A woman who took poison she bought on the Internet to terminate her unborn son has been jailed. Metro UK reported
Natalie Towers, 24, was sentenced to serve two years and six months behind bars.
Towers, who has a child from a previous pregnancy which she concealed, wept throughout the sentencing hearing.
Mr Justice Jay said: ‘This offence does involve extinguishing life about to begin.’
He gave her credit for admitting the charge of administering poison with intent to procure a miscarriage while 32-34 weeks’ pregnant at a previous hearing, but said an immediate custodial sentence had to be passed and it could not be suspended.
Towers was living with her boyfriend in November last year when she bought and took a drug which caused strong contractions, the court heard.
She initially claimed she was unaware of her pregnancy and had not felt any movements, then confessed she took tablets although ‘she didn’t think she was that far along’, Miss Mallett said.
After she was arrested, she told police she had Googled the drug and ordered it without reading up about it. In a later interview she said she thought she was a couple of months pregnant and had ‘no idea’ how old the baby was, Miss Mallett said.
Towers used the internet to buy the pills and researched how to delete her search history and babies born at 24 weeks.
The prosecuting barrister said it was a ‘very unusual case’.
Dan Cordey, defending, said: ‘She is remorseful, she greatly regrets her actions, she is a young lady, she was 23 at the time, now only 24, and that remorse and regret is something that will live with her for the rest of her life.
‘In her own words, she said
‘When I look back I think it’s awful, I hate myself, I hate it and I know it’s my fault’.’