Woman jailed for taking abortion pills after legal limit during lockdown
A woman has been jailed for carrying out a late abortion on her baby of 32-34 weeks.
The 44-year-old mother of three obtained pills from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) during lockdown, under laws introduced in the COVID pandemic.
They allowed women up to 10 weeks pregnant to have a phone consultation and receive abortion pills in the post to take at home.
The woman – who Sky News is not naming – lied to the service and claimed she was seven weeks pregnant.
After taking the pills, her 32-34 week foetus was stillborn.
The termination was eight to 10 weeks later than the 24-week legal period for having an abortion in England, Scotland and Wales.
The Crown Prosecution Service said the woman had carried out web searches including: “Can being hit in the stomach cause a miscarriage?”, “Where can I buy abortion pills in the UK?”, and “I need to have an abortion but I’m past 24 weeks”.
She took the two abortion pills on 11 May 2020 and paramedics came twice after she reported a miscarriage.
The woman initially lied and said she wasn’t pregnant, and then made a second call after her daughter was born.
Attempts to resuscitate the baby were unsuccessful.
That evening, the woman searched: “Could I go to jail for aborting my child at 30 weeks?”
Nightmares and flashbacks
Judge Mr Justice Pepperall – speaking at Stoke Crown Court – said the woman had made a tragic and unlawful decision to obtain a very late abortion.
He said she knew her pregnancy was beyond the legal limit of 24 weeks and there was planning in what she did, albeit quite chaotic.
However, he took into account that she had shown deep and genuine remorse and is racked by guilt.
“I accept you have a deep and emotional connection with your child and have nightmares and flashbacks to your dead child’s face,” he told her.
The judge also spoke about the difficultly of balancing the law with a woman’s rights to abortion. However, he said it was his duty to apply the law as it stands and that any change was a matter for parliament.
He said senior medical professionals had unusually written to him to request a suspended sentence given the nature of the case.
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Labour MP Stella Creasy: ‘Abortion is not a criminal matter, it’s a healthcare matter’
They said the telemedical service was a great advantage and that it had transformed care for some of the country’s most vulnerable women and girls who find it difficult to access in-person services.
They voiced concern that her imprisonment may deter other women from seeking support and health.
Call for ‘urgent reform’
The woman initially pleaded not guilty to child destruction, but later admitted an alternative charge of administering drugs or using instruments to procure abortion.
She was given a 28-month extended sentence and will serve 14 months in custody and the remainder on licence.
Following the sentence, Labour MP Stella Creasey called for urgent change.
“The average prison sentence for a violent offence in England is 18 months,” she tweeted.
“A woman who had an abortion without following correct procedures just got 28 months under an 1868 act – we need urgent reform to make safe access for all women in England, Scotland and Wales a human right.”
‘Horrifying case’
A spokesperson for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children called it a “horrifying case” that involved a “fully viable baby of eight months” and said the woman was fully aware she was breaking the law when she lied to get the drugs.
However, it criticised the availability of abortion drugs via post and added: “The real fault in this tragedy lies strongly with abortion providers who pushed for dangerous home abortions, and are now using this case to push for abortion up to birth.”
Liverpool have won the Premier League title after a 5-1 victory over Tottenham at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s men did it in impressive style, turning over Spurs in a convincing win.
It was a rocky start for the Reds after Dominic Solanke put the north London side ahead.
However, fortunes quickly changed in the first half as Liverpool scored three times without a response.
Captain Virgil van Dijk (centre) celebrates. Pic: Reuters
Salah on his knees in celebration after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott (below) and Jarell Quansah celebrate after full-time. Pic: PA
Slot cheers after the full-time whistle. Pic: AP
In the second half, it took until the 63rd minute for Mohamed Salah to make it 4-1 before a fifth followed.
The Reds have won the title in manager Arne Slot’s first season in charge, and move level with fierce rivals Manchester United on 20 league championships.
But it makes them arguably the most successful English club ever as they have won more European Cup or Champions League titles.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports after the final whistle: “It’s special and it’s something that we don’t take for granted. It’s amazing.
“A lot of emotions before the game, during the whole week, but we got the job done and we (are) truly deserved champions of England. (Liverpool is) the most beautiful club in the world and I think we deserve all of this. Let’s enjoy the next couple of weeks and let it sink in.”
Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas poses with a Premier League trophy cut out. Pic: Reuters
Manager Arne Slot and his team after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Slot took over last summer from Jurgen Klopp, who guided them to their previous and maiden Premier League title triumph in 2020, when the COVID-19 lockdown saw matches played behind closed doors.
He is the first Dutch manager to win the Premier League and the fifth man to do so in a debut campaign after Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini, and Antonio Conte.
Speaking to Sky Sports he said: “They [the players] did an outstanding job today. The main job was to win. Everyone said we had got it already. But we had to make sure and we got over the line.”
Several players, including Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, and Mohamed Salah, played leading roles in both the 2025 and 2020 campaigns.
Van Dijk and Salah recently signed new contracts extending their careers at the club.
Mohamed Salah takes a selfie with fans after scouring the fourth Liverpool goal. Pic: AP
Fans at Anfield during the game. Pic: AP
Fans in the stands at Anfield before full-time. Pic: Reuters
Liverpool will have to wait until the final game of the season – at home to Crystal Palace on 25 May – to be presented with the Premier League trophy.
It will be the first time the club’s fans will have seen their side lift the top-flight title in person since 1990.
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Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
Read more:
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Badenoch does not rule out local coalitions with Reform
Pic: LNP
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
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