Stuart Worby was convicted of two counts of sexual assault and a charge of administering a poison or using an instrument with intent to procure a miscarriage.
His friend Wayne Finney was accused of intentionally encouraging or assisting in the commission of the offence, by supplying the drugs, but was found not guilty by a Norfolk court on Wednesday. He claimed he had only helped Worby to research the procedure.
Mr Finney’s girlfriend, Neuza Cepeda, 39, has already admitted supplying or procuring an instrument to be used with the intent to procure a miscarriage.
The pregnant woman, Mr Worby’s partner, who cannot be named for legal reasons, went into hospital on 4 August 2022 with severe cramps and bleeding, and she lost the baby.
The jury heard that the woman was told that it was a “very serious situation” by medical staff, with the baby “struggling to stay alive”.
The court heard that messages were found on Mr Worby’s phone to his friend Wayne Finney on the day of the miscarriage in which he wrote: “It’s working. She’s bleeding.”
The woman contacted the police after seeing this message. She told the court she had wanted the baby and had not knowingly taken the medication.
“His Plan Was Cold, Callous And Calculating”
Prof. Janesh Gupta, an expert in obstetrics and gynaecology, told the court that the symptoms the victim reported – pain, bleeding, a raised temperature and shivering – were “almost classical of misoprostol”.
Mr Worby has admitted to acquiring the drugs, but claimed that he didn’t administer them, but changed his mind and threw the drugs down the sink.
The case centred around the use of two drugs – mifepristone and misoprostol – which are used together in early medical abortions.
The drugs are usually given 24 hours apart and, since the so-called pills by post policy came into force, can both be taken at home without medical supervision. Worby gave the woman mifepristone crushed up in a glass of orange juice.
Prosecutor Edmund Vickers KC told jurors that the defendant administered misoprostol the next day under the guise of “kinky sex”, while she was blindfolded, so she could not see what he was doing.
Summing up, Mr Vickers said: “His plan was cold, callous and calculating.”
Mr Vickers said Worby had repeatedly lied and had refused to take the woman to hospital for three hours despite her being in severe abdominal pain.
He added: “The biggest lie of all was when he said his conscience got the better of him and he couldn’t go ahead with administering the drugs. We say that is utter nonsense.”
Government Must Review DIY Abortion Now, Says SPUC
Alithea Williams, SPUC’s Public Policy Manager, said: “This is a shocking and tragic case, which once again shows how unregulated the abortion industry is. Even before Worby was found guilty, the woman who was complicit in his plan had already admitted to obtaining the abortion drugs for use on somebody else.
“This is not the first time this has happened. In 2022, a woman called Georgia Day was sentenced after being convicted of lying to a BPAS operative over the phone to obtain abortion drugs to give to her lover, who intended to use them on his pregnant partner.
“It’s not clear whether Ms Cepeda in this case acquired the drugs over the phone or in person, but there is clearly something very wrong when abortion pills can be obtained to use on somebody else without their consent.
“The Government must review policies around abortion pills now and prevent any more such cases.”
