Harief Pearson and cousin Kydie McKenna have been jailed along with a teenage girl.

A provision in the Offenses Against the Person Act, that abortion campaigners want rid of, is proving important in delivering justice for the pregnant victim of a sadistic attack.

A man who got two accomplices to beat his pregnant girlfriend and pour detergent down her throat in order to kill their baby has been jailed for eleven years.

‘You know what to do, I am not ready to have a kid.’

Harief Pearson, 22, enlisted his cousin Kydie McKenna, 22, and a 15-year-old teenage girl, who cannot be named, to kill his unborn baby because he "did not want to be a father", a court heard. 

When the victim broke the news of her pregnancy over the phone to Mr Pearson, he replied: ‘You know what to do, I am not ready to have a kid.’ James Thacker, prosecuting, said: ‘She told him she wanted to keep the baby and wanted him to be part of their lives. ‘Mr Pearson told her he would get someone to kidnap her.

Because she refused to have an abortion, the trio subjected the victim, who was 17 at the time, to a horrific ordeal lasting many hours. The two girls punched, stamped and kicked the victim on her stomach, back and chest. They also ripped off one of her nails and poured alcohol over her bloodied face.

When she asked for water, alcohol and blue laundry detergent was poured into her mouth instead. 

"I don’t think it’s dead yet, continue".

Before the attack, Mr Pearson had googled "how to get rid of an unwanted pregnancy’ and ‘what can heroin do to an unborn baby?"

Far from showing any regret about this appalling violence against his girlfriend and the attempt to kill his unborn child, he told the women part way through the attack "I don’t think it’s dead yet, continue".

The attack was only brought to an end when Mr Pearson feared his mother was coming home. The victim was left bloodied and bruised in a nearby street and the attackers threatened to kill her if she called the police.

Miraculously, the unborn baby survived, and is due to be born next month.

Uses for "Victorian" law

Mr Pearson was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment at Harrow Crown Court on Friday after admitting to trying to cause GBH part-way through the trial.

The teenager admitted to attempting to cause GBH, administering poison to cause a miscarriage, and false imprisonment and was sentenced to four years in a young offenders’ institution.

Ms McKenna was jailed for 10 years after pleading guilty to trying to cause GBH and perverting the course of justice.

The only one of these offences that focuses on the attempt to kill the baby (pouring detergent down the victim’s throat), rather than harm to the mother is "administering poison to cause a miscarriage".  Crucially, this is an offence under section 58 of the Offences Against the Person Act. Attempts by abortion advocates to decriminalise abortion have centred on repealing or amending parts of this Act, which they often slam as "Victorian legislation".

Decriminalising abortion would also make it possible for anyone to supply pills or instruments for the purpose of causing an abortion. Stories like this show just how crucial it is to protect women and babies by keeping abortion within the criminal law to ensure that abusive men such as Harief Pearson are brought to justice.

Join our We Care About Women campaign opposing decriminalisation