John
10-19-2009, 08:21 PM
Dr Edward Erin, 44, a consultant hospital doctor and pharmacologist, was found guilty of two charges of attempting to spike his girlfriend's Starbucks coffee and orange juice in February last year to make her have a miscarriage.
London's Old Bailey court heard that Erin, a married father of two, had decided to take the action after Bella Prowse, with whom he had a brief affair, refused to have an abortion.
"This was not a morality trial, but the nature of this case is unusual in that it is only the second of its type to be brought before the courts in the last 40 years," Detective Chief Inspector Mickey Gallagher said.
Prowse contacted police after becoming suspicious about a powder she found in drinks that the doctor, who worked at St Mary's Hospital in London, had given her.
The first attempted poisoning occurred at a Starbucks shop at London's Paddington rail station where she noticed the lid of a coffee drink Erin had bought her had been removed and replaced.
The next day, he offered her a bottle of orange juice at her place of work and she noticed this time the seal had been broken.
She took the contents of both drinks to the police and tests revealed traces of two drugs which could cause an abortion.
"Having failed to persuade his girlfriend to have an abortion, he has abused his profession and position of trust, (and) used his medical knowledge to try and bring on a miscarriage," Gallagher said.
Prowse, 33, who later gave birth to a healthy baby, thanked the police and prosecutors for pursuing the case.
"I am especially grateful for the support of my friends, family and daughter during this very difficult time," she said in a statement.
Erin, who was cleared of spiking a cup of tea he had given her and a charge of procuring drugs to induce an abortion, is due to be sentenced on November 15. The judge told him a jail term was "virtually inevitable."
London's Old Bailey court heard that Erin, a married father of two, had decided to take the action after Bella Prowse, with whom he had a brief affair, refused to have an abortion.
"This was not a morality trial, but the nature of this case is unusual in that it is only the second of its type to be brought before the courts in the last 40 years," Detective Chief Inspector Mickey Gallagher said.
Prowse contacted police after becoming suspicious about a powder she found in drinks that the doctor, who worked at St Mary's Hospital in London, had given her.
The first attempted poisoning occurred at a Starbucks shop at London's Paddington rail station where she noticed the lid of a coffee drink Erin had bought her had been removed and replaced.
The next day, he offered her a bottle of orange juice at her place of work and she noticed this time the seal had been broken.
She took the contents of both drinks to the police and tests revealed traces of two drugs which could cause an abortion.
"Having failed to persuade his girlfriend to have an abortion, he has abused his profession and position of trust, (and) used his medical knowledge to try and bring on a miscarriage," Gallagher said.
Prowse, 33, who later gave birth to a healthy baby, thanked the police and prosecutors for pursuing the case.
"I am especially grateful for the support of my friends, family and daughter during this very difficult time," she said in a statement.
Erin, who was cleared of spiking a cup of tea he had given her and a charge of procuring drugs to induce an abortion, is due to be sentenced on November 15. The judge told him a jail term was "virtually inevitable."