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THE trial of a woman accused of illegally aborting her baby collapsed due to “appalling and sloppy” reporting by the BBC, a judge said today.
Prosecutors alleged that Sophie Harvey, who was 19 at the time, took medication to illegally abort the child when she was 28 weeks pregnant.
While Ms Harvey and her boyfriend Elliot Benham accepted that they had purchased abortion pills, the defendant maintains that she did not take them and gave birth to a stillborn child.
As peers prepare to debate reform of the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi leads a bid to end the criminalisation of women who end pregnancies at home. LYNNE WALSH reports
Former judge ANSELM ELDERGILL examines the details and controversy of Lucy Letby’s trial and appeal in the context of famous historical wrongful convictions that prove both the justice system and legal activists make errors
The heroism of the jury who defied prison and starvation conditions secured the absolute right of juries to deliver verdicts based on conscience — a convention which is now under attack, writes MAT COWARD
ANSELM ELDERGILL examines the government’s proposals to further limit the right of citizens to trial by jury