Britain Doctor Gets Six Years in Prison for Poisoning Ex-Lover to Cause Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 16, 2009
London, England (LifeNews.com) — A British doctor who was found guilty of attempting to poison a former lover in a bid to cause her to have an abortion has been informed he will spend six years in prison. Edward Erin, a hospital consultant, attempted to poison Bella Prowse and force her to have an abortion without her knowledge.
Erin attempted to poison Prowse on three separate occasions in early February 2008, officials say.
They indicate he used the drugs methotrexate and diclofenac in the abortion bid and tried to administer them once at her home by putting the drugs in a tea he made for her.
In October, Erin, 44, of Kensington and a married father of two, was convicted as a jury found him guilty of two charges of attempting to poison Prowse in two of the three instances but did not convict him of attempting to cause an abortion without her consent.
During sentencing, according to the BBC, Judge Richard Hone called Erin "a liar, a cheat and a predator" and said he engaged in actions that "betrayed his profession and his family."
"You intended an invasion of her (Miss Prowse) body, the thinking man’s equivalent of an act of violence," Judge Hone continued. "The fact that no harm has yet resulted to the child is no thanks to you."
The judge jailed Erin for six years on each count, with the sentences to run concurrently.
The BBC indicated Clare Montgomery QC, Erin’s attorney, said the physician is worried about his life as he has faced threats in prison.
Pro-life advocates say the case shows how legalizing abortion empowers men to try to exert control over pregnant women whom they don’t want to deliver their baby. Many women in Prowse’s situation are pressured into having abortions they wouldn’t otherwise want.
Erin worked at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington in West London and pleaded not guilty in the case. He was suspended from his position at the medical center following his arrest.
Prowse, 32, reportedly gave birth to a healthy baby last October despite the attempts to cause the abortion.
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