Woman jailed for taking abortion pills after legal limit during lockdown is released from prison

A woman jailed for illegally taking abortion tablets to end her pregnancy during lockdown, has won her Court of Appeal bid to reduce her sentence and will be released from prison.

Mum-of-three Carla Foster, 45, was handed a 28-month extended sentence after she admitted illegally procuring her own abortion when she was between 32 and 34 weeks pregnant.

Sentencing her last month, Mr Justice Pepperall said Foster will serve half her term in custody and the remainder on licence after her release.

But at the Court of Appeal in London on Tuesday, three judges reduced her prison sentence.

Dame Victoria Sharp, sitting with Lord Justice Holroyde and Mrs Justice Lambert, said Foster's sentence would be reduced to 14 months and that it should be suspended.

"This is a very sad case... It is a case that calls for compassion, not punishment," Dame Victoria said.

Prior to her sentencing at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court in June 2023, the court heard that the mum-of-three was sent abortion-causing drugs by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) after she called them during lockdown in 2020 and lied about how far along in her pregnancy she was.

The prosecution said Foster made a number of internet searches between February and May 2020, including "how to hide a pregnancy bump", "how to have an abortion without going to the doctor" and "how to lose a baby at six months".

The woman, who had three sons before becoming pregnant again in 2019, did not see a doctor about her pregnancy because she was "embarrassed" and did not know how far along she was, the court was told.

She spoke to a nurse practitioner at BPAS, an abortion care service, on May 6 2020 and, based on her answers to questions about her pregnancy, it was determined she was only around seven weeks pregnant and she was sent abortion pills in the post.

Days later, on May 11 2020, having taken the pills, a 999 call was made at 6.39pm saying the woman was in labour.

Her child was born during the course of the phone call, prosecutors told the court.

The baby was not breathing and despite resuscitation attempts by paramedics, who arrived at the scene at about 7pm, she was pronounced dead at hospital around 45 minutes later.

A post-mortem examination determined the child was between 32 and 34 weeks' gestation when born.

Her cause of death was recorded as stillbirth and maternal use of abortion drugs.

The woman was initially charged with child destruction and pleaded not guilty.

She later pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of section 58 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, administering drugs or using instruments to procure abortion, which was accepted by the prosecution.