A young woman who dumped her stillborn baby in the household rubbish after her boyfriend had sourced pills to induce an illegal abortion walked free from court yesterday.
A new count of conspiracy to secure a poison with the intention of procuring a miscarriage was put to both Harvey and Benham, which they admitted.
Harvey, who was 19 at the time she delivered the baby in the bathroom of her family home, went on trial earlier this year charged with illegally aborting her baby which was over 28 weeks’ gestation.
The jury was discharged due to legal reasons and at a court appearance today(Wed), prosecutors accepted the teenager did not illegally abort her baby.
A new count of conspiracy to secure a poison with the intention of procuring a miscarriage was put to both Harvey and Benham, which they admitted.
Both defendants, who are now 25, had previously admitted concealing the birth of a child. Gloucester Crown Court heard that after giving birth, Harvey wrapped the stillborn baby in a towel and disposed of it in a bin.
Sentencing the pair to 18-month community orders, Judge Ian Lawrie KC told Harvey: ‘Whatever the reasons there was a still birth in your bathroom and a young life was sadly lost. There was a total absence of compassion and humanity.’
The judge added: ‘I hope you can both put it all behind you and get on with rest of your lives.’
Sophie Harvey, 25, and her partner Elliot Benham, also 25, are on trial at Gloucester Crown Court
Prosecutors allege that after learning Harvey could not have a legal abortion, the defendants ordered a kit of five pills to end the pregnancy
Harvey’s community order had a condition that she follow a mental health treatment plan, while Benham was told he must also complete 150 hours of community service.
At the trial in May, prosecutor Anna Vigars KC said the case revolved around events in the summer of 2018, when Harvey and Benham had been in a relationship for around a year.
She told the court abortions are legal in England up to 24 weeks gestation if carried out by a registered medical practitioner, and can be carried out beyond 24 weeks in very limited circumstances, which did not apply in this case.
‘These two young people found themselves in a very difficult situation facing difficult choices – a situation of their own making’, the barrister added.
Mrs Vigars explained that by August 2018, Harvey thought she might be pregnant having not had a period since mid-April.
Harvey and Benham told the GP she might be about 16 weeks pregnant and did not want to keep the child, so were referred to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS).
The couple had an appointment at BPAS on August 30 where a scan revealed Harvey was at 28 weeks and five days gestation.
‘It was impossible for her to have an abortion at this stage,’ Mrs Vigars said.
Harvey has denied procuring a poison, procuring own miscarriage by poison and attempting to pervert the course of public justice, while Benham also denies attempting to pervert the course of public justice
‘Staff spent time speaking with them and unsurprisingly both of them appeared shocked.’
The court heard the defendants went on to search the internet for information on illegal abortions and the drugs needed, which were delivered to Benham on September 22.
But Harvey later told the police they had decided to keep the baby but she had suffered a stillbirth.
Mrs Vigars told jurors in May: ‘Their position is this. In fact, they suffered a stillbirth between the date the pills were ordered and the date they arrived. They say Sophie Harvey gave birth in a bathroom one Sunday afternoon while her family were away.
‘In her shocked state she wrapped the baby in a towel and disposed of the baby. They say that although they had got what they needed for an illegal abortion, in fact Sophie Harvey never took the pills and the baby was born still, and the pregnancy came to an end naturally.’
Tom Godfrey, defending Harvey, from Cirencester, said his client did something which she now profoundly regrets.
He said: ‘She was in a very traumatic place and didn’t have the mental capacity to deal with the consequences.’
In a letter to the judge, Harvey wrote: ‘I made a mistake which I wish I could change but I can’t.’
Elliot Benham, (second left under umbrella) and Sophie Harvey, (second right under umbrella) previously appeared at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court over the abortion
And in another letter to the judge Sophie’s mother wrote: ‘I want my daughter to gain her life back and live her life. I just want to have my little girl back again.’
Clare Adam’s for Benham, of Swindon, said he had been deeply traumatised by what had happened over the last seven years.
She said: ‘They were confronted with a set of circumstances and they dealt with them badly. He wanted to support her.’
Prior to today’s pleas, Harvey had been due to face a retrial in February.
Following the conclusion of the case, the Crown Prosecution Service said: ‘The defendants have pleaded guilty to two offences, and after careful reflection we have concluded that it is not in the public interest to pursue further charges.’
The Fawcett Society, a charity for women’s rights, said it could ‘never be in the public interest’ to prosecute cases such as that of Sophie Harvey, who was charged with illegally aborting her baby.
Jemima Olchawski, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, said: ‘Restricting women’s access to abortion puts our health and lives at risk. No woman should be forced to continue a pregnancy against her will.
‘It can never be in the public interest to prosecute in cases like this – abortion is healthcare and women seeking healthcare must not be criminalised.
Police search a potential crime scene in Kingsdown, Swindon, related to the alleged illegal termination
‘The law that allowed this to happen is so old it predates women’s suffrage – it is in no way fit for purpose in modern-day Britain.’
Harvey and Benham had both pleaded not guilty to procuring poison with the intention of securing a miscarriage.
The pair also pleaded not guilty to administering poison with the intention of procuring a miscarriage. They had also pleaded not guilty to perverting the course of justice. These charges were allowed to lie on file.
