BBC apologizes after failed abortion test
BBCThe trial of a woman accused of illegally aborting her baby failed because of “appalling and shoddy” reporting by the BBC, a judge has said.
Sophie Harvey, 25, and her boyfriend Elliot Benham, 25, admitted they had bought abortion pills online, but she denied taking them.
The pair stood trial at Gloucester Crown Court in May, but the jury was acquitted following an application by their lawyers, who cited BBC Points West’s inaccurate reporting of the proceedings.
The BBC apologized to the court for “inadvertent” errors.
The court heard the opening headlines of the Points West episode on 16 May showed archive footage of a property in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, showing scenes of a tent and crime officers working, and said: “Relic gardens Were found in.”
Later that day, a TV reporter reporting the hearing proceedings said that Harvey had taken the pill.
She insisted she gave birth to a stillborn baby in the bathroom of her home in Cirencester in 2018 and had not taken an abortion pill.
‘Errors in reporting’
Tom Godfrey, representing Harvey, applied to the jury for discharge because of the reporting, saying it would go to the issue of his client’s credibility because she had said she had not taken the abortion pill.
Judge Ian Laurie Casey, before dismissing the jury, said it was “appalling and shoddy” reporting from the BBC.
A BBC spokesperson said: “The BBC apologized to the court for inadvertent errors in some of our reporting of the trial in May 2024.
“The judge hearing the case accepted our apology.”
A new trial was set for February 2025, but Harvey and Benham pleaded guilty to a new offense of conspiracy to purchase poison with intent to cause abortion and were sentenced to an 18-month community order.
