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, crushed a tablet into the drink in 2022 and gave his victim a number of tablets of another abortion drug after using deception to engage in sexual activity with her while she was blindfolded.
The woman, who is entitled to lifelong anonymity by law as the victim of a sexual offence, was 15 weeks pregnant when she miscarried. Edmund Vickers KC, prosecuting, said at today's hearing at Norwich Crown Court that it was "quite clear" that the woman "wanted to have the baby".
In a victim impact statement, read to the court by the prosecutor, the woman said she felt she had "failed to protect my baby". "This pain will never leave me knowing that this baby could have been my only chance to be a mother in this lifetime," she said. She continued: "I haven't been able to conceive and have another baby."
The woman said she had "gone from fertility clinic to fertility clinic" and "being a mother was a dream to me". Mr Vickers said Worby's offence was "deliberate, well-planned and callous" and he was helped to obtain the abortion drugs by his friend's partner Nueza Cepeda.
He said Worby paid £470 to book an appointment for Cepeda with a gynaecology centre in London. The appointment took place in summer 2022 and a prescription was made for the two abortion drugs together with painkillers, the prosecutor said.
Worby was found guilty following an earlier trial at Norwich Crown Court of administering a poison or using an instrument with intent to procure a miscarriage. He was also found guilty of assault by penetration, and on Friday he admitted to possession of cannabis that was found as police arrested him.
Sentencing Worby, from of Dereham, Norfolk, Mr Justice Joel Bennathan said: "You are a selfish man and set about aborting the baby without (the woman) knowing." He said that Worby's "only mitigation is your previous good character".
The judge also made a restraining order, barring Worby from contacting the woman indefinitely, and ordered that he pay her £10,000. After his sentence was read out, Worby asked if he "could say anything".
When told by the judge that he could not, Worby said "thanks for your time" and was led to the cells. Cepeda, 39, also of Dereham, pleaded guilty to supplying an instrument to procure a miscarriage.
The judge said: "I accept you only became involved in this due to the pressure or badgering of Stuart Worby." He sentenced the mother-of-three to 22 months in prison suspended for two years. He also ordered that she complete 40 hours of unpaid work.
Simon Spence KC, mitigating for Worby, said it was "ultimately a selfish act". Andrew Oliver, mitigating for Cepeda, said the cleaner acted out of "misguided loyalty to someone who was friends with her partner". He said Cepeda had no previous convictions, was "devastated she's played a part in the harm and suffering that's been caused" and "didn't receive any financial or other benefits for the part that she played".
Norfolk Police tonight released CCTV footage of the moment handed over the abortion drug to Stuart Worby in the garden of the George Hotel n Swaffham, Norfolk. Detective Chief Inspector Duncan Woodhams who lead the investigation described it as one of the most shocking cases he and his team of detectives had seen.
He said: “Our thoughts remain with the victim who has suffered greatly as a result of Worby’s merciless actions and the subsequent trial. It is difficult to imagine a more despicable crime. This took detailed planning and manipulation of the victim to inflict such lethal violence on her unborn child. Worby has shown no remorse and there is no mitigation. He wanted to exert control in the most heinous manner and has now deservedly been punished for it.”