Abortion staff to appear at Old Bailey on manslaughter charges

A doctor and two nurses are to appear at the Old Bailey tomorrow (3 July) charged with the manslaughter of a woman who died hours after having an abortion in west London.

Aisha Chithira, 32, from Ireland, who was 22 weeks pregnant, died after having an abortion at the Marie Stopes clinic in Ealing in January 2012.

Dr Adedayo Adedeji, 63, Gemma Pullen, 32, and Margaret Miller, 54, appeared at Ealing Magistrates’ Court on 19 June 2015 charged with manslaughter by gross negligence and with “failing to take reasonable care of the health and safety” of Ms Chithira who was affected by their “acts of omission at work.”

The court heard that the woman had travelled from Dublin to the west London Marie Stopes clinic for the abortion on 21 January 2012 and collapsed hours later in a taxi on her way to a friend’s house in Slough, Berkshire.

The patient, who was African, was working on a student visa in Ireland. She was pronounced dead at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough after suffering a heart attack believed to have been caused by extensive internal bleeding.

The defendants were released on bail and ordered to appear at the Old Bailey on 3 July.

The case has similarities to an incident that occurred at the same clinic six years earlier, when an Irish woman was left fighting for her life after Phanuel Dartey, a gynaecologist at Marie Stopes’ Ealing clinic, botched an abortion. None of the three people charged in the present case were involved in that incident.

The number of Irish women having abortions in the UK and elsewhere has been falling for 13 years, but 3,679 had terminations last year. In 2010, 498 Irish women had abortions at the Ealing centre.

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, commented: “It’s vital that the abortion industry, which often claims to serve women's best interests, is held to account. This case may provide an insight into what really happens behind the walls of abortion facilities. It needs to be carefully watched.”

Related News:
Marie Stopes' staff charged with manslaughter