British doctor jailed for poison abortion bid on lover

2009/11/16

A British doctor was jailed for six years on Monday for spiking his pregnant lover’s drinks in a failed bid to abort their unborn child.

Doctor Edward Erin, 44, was found guilty last month of putting a potentially lethal combination of drugs into coffee and orange juice, which he then served to his lover Bella Prowse.

Judge Richard Hone said Erin had been exposed “as a liar, a cheat and a predator” before jailing him on charges of attempting to administer poison to induce a miscarriage.

Erin, who is married, started an affair with Prowse, a 33-year-old secretary at the leading London hospital where they both worked, at a Christmas party just weeks before she fell pregnant.

Prowse went to police in February last year, saying she had found powder in the bottom of her cup and accusing Erin, who had earlier urged her to have an abortion. She gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Ernie, in September 2008.

Asked during the trial if he had ever loved Prowse, Erin said: “It depends on how you define love. I had very strong emotions for her,” while admitting telling her that he “did not want to have a child with her at that time.” Speaking after the verdict, Prowse said: “Ed has done this evil, horrible thing to me but Ernie has nothing to do with him. In my mind, they’re completely separate.” -- AFP