A woman accused of having an illegal abortion during lockdown brought a foetus to hospital in a rucksack and told doctors she had miscarried naturally, a court has heard.
Nicola Packer, 45, allegedly took prescribed abortion medication during the second coronavirus lockdown in November 2020, when the government had relaxed abortion rules to allow women to take pills at home, Isleworth Crown Court heard.
She is charged with “unlawfully administering to herself a poison or other noxious thing” with the “intent to procure a miscarriage”, which she denies.
Jurors heard a post-mortem examination concluded the foetus was around 26 weeks gestation and healthy. The typical full gestation term is 40 weeks and the outer limit for abortions in the UK is 24 weeks, while the legal limit for at-home abortions is 10 weeks. It is alleged that Ms Packer knew she had been pregnant for more than 10 weeks.
The prosecutor showed jurors internet searches such as “medical abortion from 10 weeks to 24 weeks” and “abortion at home at 15 weeks” made on Ms Packer’s devices on 6 November, the day it is alleged she took the abortion pills.
Alexandra Felix KC said Ms Packer, then 41 years old, brought the foetus to hospital in a rucksack the following day and initially told medical staff she was “16-18 weeks pregnant” and had miscarried. The prosecutor accused Ms Packer of having “plainly lied” to a nurse.
Jurors were told Ms Packer later said she had learned about the pregnancy on 2 November when she had started bleeding heavily before passing the foetus and some blood clots, which she had brought with her in the bag.
While in hospital, Ms Felix said analysis of Ms Packer’s phone showed she had made a number of Google searches such as “is the abortion pill detectable uk”. On 8 November, Ms Packer told midwives she had taken the pills, the court heard.
Jurors were told Ms Packer had been sent the medications after a “full consultation” with a nurse in a telephone appointment on 4 November, having contacted Marie Stopes, one of the world’s largest providers of contraception and abortions.
The court heard an obstetrician initially estimated the female foetus was at 22 weeks, before a doctor estimated the gestation to be 26-28 weeks, to which Ms Packer responded: “I didn’t expect that.”
She was arrested on 8 November 2020 and her home was searched, before she was interviewed by police two days later, the court heard.
Opening on Thursday, Ms Felix said: “It is the prosecution case that the defendant is guilty of intentionally procuring an unlawful abortion because she was in excess of 24 weeks’ pregnant and she knew that the gestation of the foetus exceeded 10 weeks at the time she took the medication.”
According to the Sentencing Council guidelines, a defendant convicted of the offence of administering a substance with intent faces a custodial sentence with a maximum length of 10 years.
In March 2020, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said women needing an abortion up to 10 weeks could use abortion pills at home after a consultation with a medical practitioner over the phone or via the internet for up to two years.
In a letter to various health bodies, the DHSC said the health secretary at the time, Matt Hancock, had also approved measures to allow doctors to prescribe the medicines – Mifepristone and Misoprostol – from their homes.
The trial continues.
