Court Of Appeal Rules

A mother of three imprisoned for illegally obtaining her own abortion tablets to end her pregnancy is to be released from jail after the Court of Appeal ruled it was a case that called for compassion, not punishment.

Carla Foster was jailed in June for more than two years after taking pills which claimed the life of stillborn Lily, in a matter that sparked widespread debate.

Anti-abortion campaigners, enraged at the 44-year-old’s jailing, orchestrated demonstrations outside the Royal Courts of Justice in Westminster, as they called for her release over the extremely concerning decision to confine her behind bars.

But now, following weeks of legal wrangling, an appeal judge has insisted there was exceptionally strong mitigation in her case and that the imprisoned mother should be freed from jail immediately.

Carla Foster, who lived in the Staffordshire village of Barlaston, lied about how advanced her pregnancy in order to obtain the abortion-causing drugs.

She was between 32 and 34 weeks pregnant when she obtained the medication from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service under the ‘pills by post’ scheme.

Carla Foster was initially charged with child destruction and pleaded not guilty, before pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of administering drugs or using instruments to procure abortion. She was ultimately sentenced to 28 months in jail.

Last month, Mr Justice Pepperall said that Carla Foster would serve 14 months in custody and then the rest on licence after her release, but at the Court of Appeal in London, three judges took the decision to cut her prison sentence.

Dame Victoria Sharp, sitting with Lord Justice Holroyde and Mrs Justice Lambert, said Carla Foster’s sentence would be lowered to 14 months and that it should be suspended.

She said that this was a very sad case, not least because of the length of the gestation when the offence was committed.

She added that it was a case that called for compassion, not punishment, and there was no useful purpose served by detaining Ms Foster in custody.

Dame Victoria said there was ‘exceptionally strong migitation’ in Foster’s case and that she should be released from prison ‘immediately’.

Carla Foster emerged for the hearing via video link from Foston Hall Prison, sporting glasses and a dark blue top with flowers on the shoulders.

Her barrister, Barry White, said there was a lack of ‘vital’ reports into Carla Foster’s mental health at the time of the offence and that ‘the obvious impact of the pandemic added to Ms Foster’s already anxious state of mind’.

The Court of Appeal was told the prison in which Carla Foster had spent 35 days had refused to allow her any form of contact with her three children, one of whom is autistic.

Mr White also said Carla Foster had voluntarily brought her actions to the attention of the police, adding that had she not done that, it’s highly unlikely that she would have ever been prosecuted.

Of course, this is an extremely sad case, and some might say that she could have carried the child to full term and either given it up for adoption, but unfortunately many of these babies end up in the system, and there’s no telling what kind of life this child might have had in the system, and this poor woman didn’t take this decision lightly.

This has now set a precedent that will be referred to in similar cases in the future. You can’t force somebody to have a baby, and people’s opinions are not a matter of law. It’s their body and their choice.

And remember this was during lockdown, remember that. We couldn’t go anywhere, or see anyone, and I don’t suppose giving birth during lockdown is something that people wish to remember, and I can’t imagine what this woman went through.

But COVID or not, shouldn’t there have been a medical check-up, of course not, nobody wanted to work, not even doctors. I’m guessing that the procedures have been investigated and why wasn’t the person that mailed the pills out questioned about it? After all, had they not sent them to her, it would never have happened, so shouldn’t the British Pregnancy Advisory Service have been culpable of a crime as well because it’s shocking that this was even a scenario in the first place?