BBC apologises after abortion trial collapse

The trial of a woman accused of illegally aborting her baby collapsed due to "appalling and sloppy" reporting by the BBC, a judge has said.

Sophie Harvey, 25, and her boyfriend Elliot Benham, 25, accepted they had purchased abortion pills online, but she denied taking them.

The couple stood trial at Gloucester Crown Court in May, but the jury was discharged after an application by their lawyers who cited inaccurate reports of the proceedings by BBC Points West.

The BBC apologised to the court for the "unintentional" errors.

The court heard the opening headlines of the Points West episode on 16 May had shown archive footage of a property in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, with a tent and scenes of crime officers working, and stated: "The remains were found in the garden."

Later in the report of that day's trial proceedings, a TV reporter said that Harvey had taken the pill.

She had insisted she gave birth to a stillborn child in the bathroom of her home in Cirencester in 2018 and had not taken an abortion pill.

Tom Godfrey, representing Harvey, applied for the jury to be discharged due to the reporting, saying it would go to the issue of his client's credibility as she maintained she did not take the abortion pill.

Judge Ian Lawrie KC said it was "appalling and sloppy" reporting from the BBC, before dismissing the jury.

A BBC spokeswoman said: "The BBC apologised to the court for the unintentional errors in some of our reporting of the trial in May 2024.

"Our apology was accepted by the judge hearing the case."

A new trial had been fixed for February 2025, but Harvey and Benham pleaded guilty to a new offence of conspiracy to procure a poison with intent to procure a miscarriage. They had also pleaded guilty to endeavouring to conceal the birth of a child.

Harvey was sentenced to an 18-month community order and Benham was ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.