A ‘callous’ man who forced a woman to miscarry by spiking a glass of orange juice with illegally obtained abortion tablets has had his jail sentence increased.
Stuart Worby, 40, secretly put one of the crushed up pills into the drink and inserted the second as he sexually assaulted the blindfolded woman under the guise of ‘kinky sex on August 3, 2022.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, suffered a miscarriage 15-weeks in to her pregnancy.
The Court of Appeal has now quashed Worby’s sentence after the case was referred by the Solicitor General who argued that it was ‘unduly lenient’.
Lady Justice Macur, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb and Mr Justice Sweeting ruled his 12 year sentence should be increased to 17 years.
The ‘cold, calculating and callous’ forced abortion plot saw Worby use two drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, which are commonly used together to induce miscarriage in early pregnancy and were illegally obtained from a private clinic in London.
Initially the victim thought she had miscarried spontaneously but contacted police when she saw messages on Worby’s phone to his friend Wayne Finney saying ‘It’s working’ and ‘There is a lot of blood’.
The Court of Appeal found the sentencing judge, the Honourable Mr Justice Bennathan, had been ‘excessively generous’ in reductions to the sentence to reflect Worby’s previous good character.
Stuart Worby, 40, secretly put one of the crushed up pills into the drink and inserted the second as he sexually assaulted the blindfolded woman under the guise of ‘kinky sex on August 3, 2022
A picture of the mifepristone abortion pill illegally obtained by Worby from a private clinic and used to force the woman to miscarry
A picture of the misoprostol which Worby aquired illegally and used to force the woman to have a miscarriage
They also ruled the original sentence for the sexual assault had not adequately reflected the harm suffered by the woman who subsequently underwent surgery and may never have a child as a result.
Paul Jarvis, representing the Solicitor General in court, said it should be considered similar to an assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and the sentence increased as a result.
Stephen Spence KC, for Worby, argued it had been a ‘very emotional’ case and the original judge had heard the full evidence during the trial.
In their ruling the appeal judges increased the sentence for administering poison from 12 years to 17 and sexual assault from eight years to 15, to be served concurrently.
In a statement to a sentencing hearing in December, the woman said despite seeking fertility treatment she had been told she may now never become a mother.
She said: ‘Although two years have passed, I carry a dead weight that will never leave, that I failed to protect my baby.
‘This pain will never leave me knowing that this baby might be my only chance to have a child.
‘Being pregnant was a dream for me with a man I thought I loved. I was naive, having been raised to trust people.’
Initially the victim thought she had miscarried spontaneously but contacted police when she saw messages on Worby’s phone to his friend Wayne Finney (pictured outside Norwich Crown Court) saying ‘It’s working’ and ‘There is a lot of blood’
The trial had heard that Worby (pictured outside Norwich Crown Court) bought the tablets for £470 from a private gynaecology clinic in London in July 2022
Worby, of Dereham, Norfolk, was found guilty of sexual assault and administering a poison with intent to cause a miscarriage following a trial in October.
The Honourable Mr Justice Bennathan told him he was a ‘selfish man’ who had researched how to carry out the offences over many weeks.
He had gone ahead with his plan despite knowing the pills were dangerous for the woman given the stage of her pregnancy, he added.
Stephen Spence, for Worby, said it had been a ‘selfish act and gross error of judgement’.
He said: ‘He now understands the seriousness of what he has done even if he didn’t at the time.
‘His judgement was clouded at the time by panic and anxiety and concerns for the woman’s health.’
Worby had admitted unlawfully acquiring mifepristone and misoprostol but had denied giving them to the woman.
The trial had heard that Worby bought the tablets for £470 from a private gynaecology clinic in London in July 2022.
He sourced them after persuading another woman, Neuza Cepeda, 39, the partner of a friend, to obtain them illegally.
She made an appointment at the centre to say she was pregnant and wanted to have a termination.
Mother-of-three Cepeda, of Walnut Drive, Dereham, was sentenced to 22 months suspended for two years after admitting supplying medication with the intent to procure a miscarriage.
CCTV footage from the day before the incident showed Cepeda arriving at a pub with a white envelope containing what the prosecution said were the abortion pills and handing it over to Worby.
Worby’s bank statement showed he paid for Cepeda’s medical consultation that resulted in her obtaining the two drugs.
