A woman whose trial for illegally aborting her baby collapsed due to inaccurate reporting by the BBC, has been sentenced to an 18-month community order. Sophie Harvey and her boyfriend Elliot Benham, both 25, had accepted that they had bought abortion pills online, but Harvey denied taking them. The couple stood trial at Gloucester Crown Court in May, but the jury was discharged through an application by their lawyers, who cited inaccurate reporting of the proceedings by BBC Points West.
Harvey has insisted that she gave birth to a stillborn child in the bathroom of her home in Cirencester in 2018 and that she had not taken an abortion pill, as later reported by a TV reporter. Tom Godfrey, representing Harvey, said that inaccurate reporting would go to the issue of his client’s credibility. Judge Ian Lawrie KC dismissed the jury, saying the reporting was “appalling and sloppy” from the BBC.
The BBC later apologised to the court for the “unintentional” errors. Harvey and Benham pleaded guilty to a new offence of conspiracy to procure a poison with intent to procure a miscarriage and endeavouring to conceal the birth of a child. Harvey was sentenced to an 18-month community order, while Benham was ordered to carry out 150 hours unpaid work.
A new trial had been scheduled for February 2025, but the couple had decided to plead guilty to the new charges. Reporters have a responsibility to ensure their reporting is accurate and balanced while respecting legal proceedings. In this case, the BBC has accepted that there were errors in their reporting and that claim had an impact on the defendant’s rights to a fair trial
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