A man who made a woman have a miscarriage by secretly spiking her orange juice with an abortion-inducing drug was jailed for 12 years today.
Stuart Worby, 40, had robbed his childless victim of having the baby she was desperate for, and she now fears she has been left infertile.
Worby obtained two types of abortion drugs by persuading a friend’s partner to pretend she was pregnant so she could get prescribed them privately, then give them to him.
He crushed a tablet of mifepristone into his victim’s drink on the night of August 3, 2022, without her knowledge or consent in an action described by prosecutors as ‘deliberate, well planned and callous’.
Worby, of Dereham, Norfolk, later inserted a number of tablets of another abortion drug – misoprostol – inside the woman after using deception to engage in sexual activity with her.
His victim – who cannot be named for legal reasons – had a severe physical reaction within a few hours, suffering vomiting, diarrhea, a high temperature and bleeding.
Worby at first refused to take her to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, but he later did so and the following day she miscarried her healthy baby.
Mr Justice Joel Bennathan jailed him for 12 years for administering poison or using an instrument with intent to procure a miscarriage, and a concurrent eight years for sexual assault by penetration.
Stuart Worby, 40, obtained two types of abortion drugs by persuading a friend’s partner to pretend she was pregnant so she could get prescribed them privately and give them to him
A photo issued by police of a Mifepristone tablet. Worby crushed a tablet of mifepristone into his victim’s drink on the night of August 3, 2022, without her knowledge or consent
Worby was also ordered to pay £10,000 compensation to his victim. He had denied both charges, but was found guilty at an earlier trial.
Portuguese-national Nueza Cepeda, 39, of Dereham, who procured the drugs for him, pleaded guilty to supplying an instrument to procure a miscarriage, and was given a 22 month jail sentence suspended for two years.
The mother-of-three’s partner Wayne Finney, 41, of Swaffham, Norfolk, was found not guilty of intentionally encouraging or assisting others to commit a crime
The woman who miscarried described her anguish at losing her baby in an emotional victim impact statement, saying she was now unable to have children after being diagnosed with an ovarian deficiency.
She said that her miscarriage had left her suffering ‘grief that will never heal’ knowing that she ‘had failed’ to protect her baby.
The woman said in her statement: ‘I keep thinking what I could have done to protect my baby, but I have the deep pain of knowing that I have failed.
‘This pain will never leave me, knowing that this baby could have been my only chance of being a mother in this lifetime.
‘Although I now have a wonderful partner, we have been unable to conceive. I have to face the knowledge that the only baby I could have had was lost.’
Stuart Worby, of Dereham, Norfolk pictured outside Norwich Crown Court on October 29
The victim described being cross examined at Worby’s trial as ‘a horrible feeling’ which had made her ‘more upset’.
She added: ‘I had a healthy pregnancy and was looking forward to giving birth to a beautiful baby. Becoming a mother was a dream that I was always hoping for.’
The woman said she had been left suffering ‘relentless nightmares’ and sleepless nights, and had been further traumatised by having to wait two years ‘to give my baby the right to have a funeral’.
The trial heard how the woman had found messages on Worby’s phone to Mr Finney which commented on the effect of the abortion drugs on her, saying ‘it’s working’ and ‘there is lots of blood’.
The woman realised then that she had not suffered a spontaneous miscarriage, but what was described by police as a ‘deceitful and planned termination’.
The court heard how Worby had persuaded Cepeda to make a telephone appointment to a gynaecology centre in London to say she was pregnant, already had a family, and wanted to terminate the foetus.
His bank statement showed he had paid her the £470 fee for the drugs and her consultation to have a medical consultation that resulted in the drugs being delivered to her home.
CCTV showed her handing over the packets to Worby on a table outside the George Hotel in Swaffham, despite having been told by at the gynaecology centre that it was a criminal offence to give the medication to anyone else.
Prosecutor Edmund Vickers KC said it was ‘quite clear’ that the victim wanted to have her baby.
Worby’s friend Wayne Finney (pictured on October 29), of Swaffham, denied intentionally encouraging or assisting in the offence. He was found not guilty by the jury
He said that a post mortem found the abortion drugs in her baby’s body, and gave the cause of death as abortion drugs in the mother’s system.
Cepeda initially claimed that she did not believe the abortion drugs would be used with the consent of the victim.
The trial heard how she had made internet searches before getting her prescription for ‘abortion home remedies’ and ‘abortion home treatment’.
Andrew Oliver KC, defending Cepeda, who works as a cleaner, said she had only met Worby through Mr Finney, and had acted ‘through a degree of pressure and panic’.
He added: ‘She has gone against her better judgement as a result of trying to help, although in a completely misguided way.
‘She knew the reasons why he was asking her to acquire medication. But she has been utterly conned by Mr Worby. He not only deceived (the victim) in the most cruel way, but she was also taken in by his lies.
‘She is devastated that she has played a part in the harm and suffering that this case has caused. She did not intend harm. She thought she was trying to help. It was misguided loyalty to someone who was a friend of her partner.
‘It has landed her in serious trouble and caused graphic misery for which she is truly sorry. She did not receive any financial or other benefit from the part she played. I accept she played a critical role.
‘She was a subordinate in this incident and did not think out the horrific consequences.’
Mr Justice Bennathan told Worby that he had been ‘anxious’ to terminate the woman’s pregnancy. He added: ‘You are a selfish man and you set about planning to abort the baby.
‘In the end you used your friend’s partner to get abortion drugs. You must have known this was dangerous as the pills were designed for use in the early weeks of pregnancy.’
The judge added that ‘any normal person’ would be shocked to hear the victim’s impact statement.
But he told Worby, who has no previous convictions: ‘I am sure your thoughts are only about yourself as they always were.’
Worby asked if he could say something before being taken down, but the judge refused his request. Worby then added: ‘Thanks for your time.’
Mr Justice Bennathan told Cepeda: ‘Your actions have caused huge suffering and a great loss to another woman. I accept you only became involved due to the pressure or badgering of Stuart Warby.
‘I accept that you thought he might not go through with it, and that you feel remorse and pain about what happened.’
The judge also ordered her to do a rehabilitation activity requirement of 20 days and 40 hours of unpaid work.
Worby was given a concurrent 14-day jail sentence after he admitted possessing cannabis.
