Norfolk man sentenced to 12 years for spiking pregnant woman with abortion drug
The victim miscarried shortly after.
Last updated 6th Dec 2024
A Norfolk man who spiked a pregnant woman with an abortion drug causing her to have a miscarriage has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Stuart Worby, of Malthouse Close in Dereham, became the first person in the UK to be found guilty of this crime in late October, following a trial at Norwich Crown Court, where a jury ruled he'd administered a poison to procure a miscarriage after the woman lost her unborn baby.
He was also found guilty of assault by penetration.
The 40-year-old crushed a tablet of mifepristone into the drink on the night of August 3 2022 without the woman's knowledge or consent, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
He then inserted a number of tablets of another abortion drug - misoprostol - inside the woman after using deception to engage in sexual activity with her.
The woman had a severe physical reaction within a few hours and was admitted to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital the following day where she miscarried her baby at 15 weeks.
"Deceitful and planned termination"
Norfolk Police said the woman, who had wanted to keep the baby, later found messages on Worby's phone to another man - Wayne Finney - which said "it's working" and "there is lots of blood".
It was at that moment that she realised what she had suffered was not a spontaneous miscarriage but a "deceitful and planned termination", the force said.
A second person, Nueza Cepeda, 39, of Dereham, will also spend XXX in prison, after pleading guilty to supplying the abortion drugs.
Worby's bank statement showed he paid for Cepeda to have a medical consultation that resulted in her obtaining the two drugs, the CPS said.
Norfolk Police said the trial heard that Worby had bought the tablets for £470 from a gynaecology centre in London on July 29 2022.
Cepeda had made a telephone appointment to the centre to say she was pregnant, already had a family, and wanted to terminate the foetus, the force said.
The centre explained it was a criminal offence to give the medication to someone else, police said, and Cepeda was given the prescription.
Her boyfriend, Wayne Finney, 41, of Swaffham, was found not guilty of intentionally encouraging or assisting others commit a crime.
"This is a heart-breaking case"
Speaking when Worby was found guilty, Nicola Pope, of the CPS, said: "This is a heart-breaking case involving a woman who wanted to have her baby but was forced to have a miscarriage by Stuart Worby.
"He committed this heinous crime along with Nueza Cepeda, who helped him by illegally obtaining drugs that are used by women seeking an abortion.
"These drugs give women power and control over their bodies - but the victim was forced to take them without her knowledge or consent.
"I thank the jury who have had to listen to some disturbing evidence, our thoughts remain with the victim of this horrific crime."
The CPS said CCTV footage from the day before the incident showed Cepeda arriving at a pub with a white envelope containing what prosecutors said were the abortion pills and handing it over to Worby.
A gynaecologist gave evidence that simply ingesting mifepristone in the orange juice would not explain the woman's symptoms or cause the spontaneous miscarriage by itself.
She would have had to have ingested misoprostol as well.
A toxicologist explained to the court that police took nail clippings from Worby for forensic testing.
The clippings were found to have traces of mifepristone and misoprostol on them.
A post-mortem examination, including an analysis of chemicals in the baby's system, found traces of mifepristone.
"We pay tribute to the bravery of the victim"
Speaking back in October, DCI Duncan Woodhams, of Norfolk Police, said: "We pay tribute to the bravery of the victim who has endured the most terrible loss, her courage to come forward and give evidence has been invaluable in ensuring a guilty verdict.
"We also pay tribute to all the medical and health professionals and family, neighbours and friends who have supported the victim in her testimony.
"The impact of this event could have lifelong repercussions for the victim.
"This has been a complex investigation into the deceitful and determined actions of Worby which had such horrific consequences and marks the first of its kind in finding someone guilty of this specific crime."
"Reminder of the devastating consequences that spiking has"
Following Worby's sentencing, a domestic abuse charity in Norfolk is telling us strong punishments need to be dished out to those found guilty of spiking offences- so more victims of this crime have confidence to come forwards.
Rhys Lloyd is from local domestic abuse charity Leeway:
"It's just another example of the lengths that perpetrators will go to, to exert their power and control over somebody. There's probably many people who have had experiences of doing things they don't want to do.
"It's also another reminder of the devastating consequences that spiking does have, and why we should take all forms of violence against women and girls really seriously."