EXCLUSIVE: Enjoying her first taste of freedom: Mother-of-three Carla Foster is pictured a day after she was released from prison after judges reduced her jail term for illegally taking abortion tablets to end pregnancy at 32 weeks
- Carla Foster was jailed in June for more than two years for taking the pills
A mother imprisoned for illegally taking abortion pills to end her pregnancy has been pictured for the first time after being freed from jail following an appeal.
Carla Foster was jailed in June for more than two years for taking pills which claimed the life of stillborn Lily at 32 weeks, in a ‘deeply concerning’ case that triggered protests by women’s rights campaigners.
But yesterday, the 44-year-old won her appeal against her ‘manifestly excessive’ 28-month prison term, as a judge insisted there was ‘exceptionally strong mitigation’.
Campaigners hailed the decision a watershed moment in UK legal history, which prompted called for an ‘urgent’ overhaul of Britain’s archaic abortion laws.
Ms Foster has now been pictured for the first time after being freed from Foston Hall Prison in Derbyshire last night. The mother was wearing a black coat, jeans and a stylish pair of black flat shoes as she got into a car.
Carla Foster was jailed in June for more than two years for taking pills which claimed the life of stillborn Lily at 32 weeks (she is pictured on Wednesday)
But the 44-year-old mother-of-three was released from prison following a decision by the Court of Appeal to reduce her sentence
Ms Foster was released from Foston Hall prison (pictured) on Tuesday following a decision by Court of Appeal judges to reduce her sentence
The mother of three wore a pair of sunglasses as she took a stroll a day after being freed
The mother-of-three, from Barlaston, Staffordshire, was jailed after she lied about how advanced her pregnancy was in order to obtain the abortion-causing drugs.
READ MORE: Carla Foster’s release from jail after she illegally procured tablets to end pregnancy at 32 weeks is celebrated – with women’s rights groups demanding ‘Now decriminalise abortion as a matter of urgency’
She was between 32 and 34 weeks pregnant when she received the medication from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service under the ‘pills by post’ scheme during the Covid lockdown.
The procedure is generally only legal before 24 weeks and is carried out in clinics after 10 weeks of pregnancy.
Ms Foster was initially charged with child destruction and pleaded not guilty, before pleading guilty to an alternative charge of administering drugs or using instruments to procure abortion. She was eventually sentenced to 28 months in prison.
Sentencing her last month, Mr Justice Pepperall said Ms Foster will serve 14 months in custody and the remainder on licence after her release.
But at the Court of Appeal in London on Tuesday, three judges took the decision to slash her prison sentence, and free her ‘immediately’.
Dame Victoria Sharp, sitting with Lord Justice Holroyde and Mrs Justice Lambert, said Foster’s sentence would be reduced to 14 months and that it should be suspended.
She said: ‘This is a very sad case, not least because of the length of the gestation when the offence was committed.
‘It is a case that calls for compassion, not punishment, and where no useful purpose is served by detaining Ms Foster in custody.’
Ms Foster wept as she listened to the judgement via video link from prison yesterday.
An emotional Carla Foster wiped tears away from her eyes as she appeared via a video link at today’s Court of Appeal hearing in London
Ms Foster’s (pictured) case sparked widespread controversy when she was jailed for more than two years earlier this month for taking pills which claimed the life of stillborn Lily
She returned to the property on Tuesday afternoon after being released from jail and was driven home by a man
A spokesperson for campaign group Level Up said: ‘Like thousands of mothers in Britain, Carla was sent to prison and separated from her children for something that should never have put her there’
Dame Victoria added there was ‘exceptionally strong mitigation’ in the jailed mother’s case and that she should be released from prison ‘immediately’.
The news was celebrated by human rights groups, with Amnesty International UK’s women’s rights director, Chiara Capraro, saying Ms Foster should have never have been put through ‘such a hideous ordeal in the first place’.
And the landmark decision sparked calls for Britain to update its abortion laws – which date back to 1861 – with Chiara saying: ‘This is a deeply upsetting story, from beginning to end, and underscores the urgent need for abortion to be decriminalised in England and Wales.’
A spokesperson for campaign group Level Up said: ‘Like thousands of mothers in Britain, Carla was sent to prison and separated from her children for something that should never have put her there.
‘This case must bring renewed calls to fight the criminalisation of abortion – and of women and mothers more broadly. The judge said that Carla needed ‘compassion not punishment’ and we believe this sentiment should be extended more broadly to all mothers in the justice system.
‘While we are delighted that Carla has been released from prison, she should have never been put there in the first place.
‘Existing sentencing guidelines for judges already state that they should be taking a mother’s primary caring responsibilities – and the impact of a sentence on her children – into consideration.’
Ms Foster (pictured outside court) is to now to be freed from jail following a ruling by the Court of Appeal
As well as the 14-month suspended prison sentence, Foster will also have to complete up to 50 days of rehabilitation activity
Politicians also welcomed the news, with Labour MP Stella Creasy tweeting: ‘The relief that this woman can go home to be with her children is tempered by the knowledge there are more cases to come where women in England being prosecuted and investigated for having abortions under this archaic legislation. That’s why we need decrim now.’
How mother was prosecuted under 1861 law on ‘administering drugs or using instruments to procure abortion’
Carla Foster was initially charged with child destruction and pleaded not guilty.
She later pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of section 58 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, entitled ‘administering drugs or using instruments to procure abortion’ – and this was accepted by the prosecution.
The law states as follows:
‘Every woman, being with child, who, with intent to procure her own miscarriage, shall unlawfully administer to herself any poison or other noxious thing, or shall unlawfully use any instrument or other means whatsoever with the like intent, and whosoever, with intent to procure the miscarriage of any woman, whether she be or be not with child, shall unlawfully administer to her or cause to be taken by her any poison or other noxious thing, or shall unlawfully use any instrument or other means whatsoever with the like intent, shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof shall be liable to be kept in penal servitude for life’
During Tuesday’s hearing, Ms Foster’s lawyer Barry White, said there was a lack of ‘vital’ reports into her 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 she had spent 35 days has refused to allow her any form of communication with her three children, one of whom is autistic.
Mr White also said Ms Foster had voluntarily brought her actions to the attention of the police, adding: ‘Had she not done that, it is highly unlikely that she would have ever been prosecuted.’
Lawyers representing her last month submitted an appeal against her 28-month prison sentence, but the application – under the so-called slip rule – was rejected at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
The slip rule gives courts the power to alter a sentence or order made within 56 days.
Her defence team argued the sentence did not take into account the length of time for the case to get to court and the absence of any mental health assessment or psychiatric report from 2020.
But the application was previously thrown out by Mr Justice Pepperall, as the court was told ‘two detailed psychiatric reports’ had been made available.
The judge said: ‘The imprisonment of Carla Foster has sparked a passionate public debate against the law to criminalise late-term abortions.
‘My duty was to apply the law as provided by Parliament and sentence in accordance with the guidelines given by the Court of Appeal.
‘I was aware of the fact that this matter had been hanging over her since May 2020 and I took the delay into account together with all the other aggravating and mitigating factors in this case in determining the appropriate sentence after trial was three years, rather than five years, imposed by the Court of Appeal in R V Catt.
‘As it happens, the delay was similar in Catt. I conclude there are no proper grounds for re-considering sentence and I dismiss the application.’
Ms Foster pleaded guilty to a charge under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861
Ms Foster’s close-knit family, made up of her three sisters and elderly father, were devastated by her jailing.
They all live just 10 minutes’ walk from each other in Stoke-on-Trent while Ms Foster lives a short drive away.
A family friend told MailOnline: ‘The family are broken and struggling to come to terms with what’s happened. They need some time together to process it all and can’t speak about it at the moment.
‘On one hand they are very angry that Carla has been sent to prison because whatever wrong she might have done, she didn’t deserve that.
‘She’s hardly a dangerous criminal, is she? And on the other hand, they feel very embarrassed because of the details that have come out about her personal life.’
The friend added: ‘It’s not the sort of thing any father wants to see being published in the newspapers about his daughter.
‘Carla’s dad and the rest of the family have had a terrible year. Last year their mum died and now this has happened.
‘It’s a very painful and devastating time for the family so they just want to have their privacy and be left alone.’
Her prison sentence triggered widespread controversy, leading to protests by abortion rights campaigners outside the Royal Courts of Justice last month (pictured)
Carla lives in a neat, terraced home in Barlston, a quaint village on the outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent which is one of the most sought-after destinations amongst locals, particularly young families and retired people.
The red-brick property is worth an estimated £160,000 and has immaculately cut hedges and a well-maintained front garden, along with all the other properties in the area.
She returned to the property on Tuesday afternoon after being released from jail and was driven home by a man.
She emerged on Wednesday morning at around 9am and got into his car before they sped off. She returned two hours later in a taxi but refused to comment when asked about her case.
One neighbour said: ‘We don’t have a lot to do with them and I’m unlikely to ask Carla about her case. But we do know that her domestic life is quite complicated and they’ve had their problems.’
Located opposite lush, open fields, Carla’s home lies on the picturesque Wedgwood Estate which is made up of canals, rolling hills, lakes, wildlife and a Natural Trust nature reserve.
The estate was founded and named after the famous Wedgwood ceramics family. Carla’s house is just minutes from the World of Wedgwood, which attracts tourists from all over who come to learn about the history of the leading pottery brand.
Her case triggered a huge response from the public, with women’s rights campaigners taking to Westminster to protest
Foster already had three sons – one of whom has special needs – before she became pregnant again in 2019. She had moved back in with her estranged partner when lockdown began, while carrying another man’s baby.
Despite a plea for leniency from medical bodies and charities which wrote to the judge, she was jailed for two years and four months earlier this month.
The case sparked a major row involving abortion providers, MPs and pro-life campaigners – amid calls for Parliament to consider overhauling ‘out-of-date’ laws, and others highlighting ‘inadequacy of the safeguards for this regime of abortion’.
Hours before the sentencing, Foster posted a text image on Facebook which said: ‘No one has the right to judge you because no one knows what you’ve been through. They may have heard stories, but they didn’t feel what you felt.’
Foster also posted a text image saying: ‘Life has knocked me down a few times, it showed me things I never wanted to see. I experienced sadness and failures. But one thing for sure, I always get up.’
The court previously heard Foster had been having sex with two men and did not know which was the father when she became pregnant.
Foster posted this message on Facebook at 3am, just hours before she was jailed
Ms Foster posted this message on Facebook at 7pm, the day before her sentencing
She carried out internet searches from February 2020 onwards that included ‘How to lose a baby at six months’. In April she searched for ‘I need to have an abortion but I’m past 24 weeks’.
READ MORE: Family of mother-of-three, 44, jailed for illegally procuring her own abortion outside the legal limit are ‘broken and struggling to come to terms with what’s happened’
She spoke to a nurse practitioner at BPAS on May 6, 2020, leading the nurse to believe that she was around seven weeks pregnant. Her child, a girl, was born, not breathing, on May 11, 2020.
A post-mortem examination recorded cause of death as stillbirth and maternal use of abortion drugs.
Foster was initially charged with child destruction and pleaded not guilty.
But she later pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of section 58 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, administering drugs or using instruments to procure abortion, which was accepted by the prosecution.
Mr Justice Pepperall said she was ‘plagued by nightmares and flashbacks to seeing your dead child’s face’ and accepted she was a ‘good mother’ to her three children, one of whom has special needs.
Ms Foster’s jailing triggered protests by human rights groups across London as they demand for her release.
Speaking on Tuesday, Foster’s barrister Mr White said she was given 20 per cent credit for her guilty plea to the second charge but could have been given the standard one third.
Robert Price, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said the original sentence was not ‘manifestly excessive’. He added: ‘The judge correctly made allowances for mitigating factors in this unusually sensitive case.’
Protesters and women’s rights campaigners have since demanded a change to the laws surrounding abortion (pictured, a demonstration in Westminster on June 17)
A spokesperson for campaign group Level Up on Tuesday said: ‘Like thousands of mothers in Britain, Carla was sent to prison and separated from her children for something that should never have put her there.’ (Pictured, women’s rights campaigners in Westminster on June 17)
As well as the 14-month suspended prison sentence, Foster will also have to complete up to 50 days of rehabilitation activity.
Following the Court of Appeal’s decision, Clare Murphy, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, said: ‘We echo the judges’ statements that this is a case that calls for compassion, not punishment, and are delighted with the decision to release Carla Foster from prison.
‘We urge Parliament to take action and decriminalise abortion as a matter of urgency so that no more women have to endure the threat of prosecution and imprisonment.’
Most abortions in England are carried out before 24 weeks of pregnancy. They can only be carried out after 24 weeks in very specific circumstances such as if the mother’s life is at risk or if the child would have a severe disability when born.
The case sparked a major row involving abortion providers, MPs and pro-life campaigners – amid calls for Parliament to consider overhauling ‘out-of-date’ laws, and others highlighting ‘inadequacy of the safeguards for this regime of abortion’.
But Catherine Robinson, spokesman for the pro-life charity Right To Life UK, said: ‘The abortion provider BPAS should never have sent abortion pills to this vulnerable woman when her baby was at 32 weeks gestation – that’s around eight months.’
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