Nicola Packer, 45, wiped her eyes with a tissue after she was acquitted by a jury of “unlawfully administering to herself a poison or other noxious thing” with the intent to “procure a miscarriage”
A woman on trial for having an illegal abortion has been found not guilty of having an illegal abortion.
Nicola Packer, 45, cried and wiped her eyes with a tissue after she was acquitted by a jury at Isleworth Crown Court in south-west London, of “unlawfully administering to herself a poison or other noxious thing” with the “intent to procure a miscarriage.” The trial heard how she took abortion medicine at home in November 2020 before bringing the foetus to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in a backpack. Jurors deliberated for more than six hours to reach the unanimous verdict. Edmunds KC thanked jurors for their attention in the case and said Ms Packer was formally discharged.”This was an old case, relating to events during 2020, in the Covid pandemic,” Judge Edmunds said. “It is the prosecution, the CPS who make decisions about whether to pursue criminal cases. They do so through guidelines which they have to apply… one of which is the public interest.”
Packer had been charged when she arrived at hospital carrying her baby’s body in a bag after taking abortion pills during the November 2020 Covid lockdown. Isleworth Crown Court heard how Packer, then 41, was prescribed them during a remote consultation and that she was “shocked and surprised” when she learned how far along the pregnancy was. But after being alerted by hospital staff, police charged Packer with unlawfully administering a poison with the “intent to cause a miscarriage”.
Prosecutors argued Packer knew she was beyond the legal term limit to have an abortion when she took the mifepristone and misoprostol when she was 26 weeks pregnant. The legal limit for taking medication at home for an abortion is 10 weeks.
But the London jury heard Packer genuinely believed she was 10 weeks pregnant, tearfully telling the court: “If I had known I was that far along I wouldn’t have done it. I wouldn’t have put the baby or myself through it.” She said that she wrapped the baby in a scarf, but there were no signs of her being alive.
These are the major developments from the case.
Trauma and regret
Packer told the jury her pregnancy came as a “shock” and said she would not have taken the medication if she had known how far along she was.
Fiona Horlick KC, defending, said in her closing speech on Tuesday: “The facts of this case are a tragedy but they are not a crime and Ms Packer is not guilty of this offence. Remember what she said, she said: ‘I would never have put the baby or myself through it if I had known.'”
“It is hard to imagine how traumatically awful it must have been for Ms Packer thinking that she would only see blood clots to look into the toilet bowl to see a small but fully formed baby,” Ms Horlick continued.
“Four-and-a-half years later you can see how she is still utterly traumatised by that.” Ms Horlick told jurors that Packer “wanted to do the right thing for the baby”.
“She did not dump its body in a rubbish bin,” the barrister said. “People do do that. She investigated funeral homes. She took the baby to hospital with her. Are those the actions of somebody who knowingly took medication not believing she was under 10 weeks pregnant?”
The court heard Packer told staff she had no idea she was “so pregnant”, and was observed as being “in shock”. “This is a scared, traumatised woman who had been through the worst experience of her life and needed help,” Ms Horlick said.
Online abortion searches
After bringing the foetus to the hospital, Packer was found looking at something on her phone by a nurse. The searches she made while at the hospital included “is mifesopron detectable” as well as “is the abortion pill detectable UK,” the prosecution argued.
Jurors were also told Packer first made searches online on November 2, the same day she contacted NHS abortion provider Marie Stopes. Searches made after speaking with the clinic included “is at home abortion treatment effective up to 12 weeks” as well as “abortion limit UK.”
She would later search “abortion at home at 15 weeks” as well as “13-24 week medical abortion”. Packer then looked up “late miscarriage” and “how long does a later stage miscarriage take”.
Ms Felix previously argued: “These searches were all at a time when Nicola Packer could not have known what the foetus looked like nor its size, yet the searches suggest that she knows that the foetus she is carrying is more than 10 weeks old.”
BDSM relationship with husband and wife
The jury heard Packer had been in a BDSM relationship with a husband and wife who could not be identified due to legal reasons. The defendant consented to taking on the role of a “submissive” with the man, the court heard.
His wife agreed to the arrangement but said it should be limited to oral sex and tying up, said prosecutor Alexandra Felix. But sexual intercourse was not part of the arrangement, although it “would appear however” that they might have in fact “engaged in sexual intercourse”, she added.
‘Nothing’ to indicate pregnancy
Asked why she did not believe she was pregnant during the Covid lockdown period, Packer told jurors that she showed “no signs” as her breasts were not sore, she did not feel sickness or fatigue and she only gained a small amount of weight.
Her lawyer Fiona Horlick KC asked: “Was there anything to indicate to you that you were pregnant?” Packer replied: “No.” Ms Horlick also asked: “Did you feel any foetal movement?” Packer said: “No.”
A friend of Packer’s gave evidence, stating that physically there was no sign of pregnancy, and that the defendant had continued to drink alcohol and have periods.
Ms Horlick asked the friend: “There was nothing that ever indicated to you that she was pregnant?” “Nothing,” the friend replied. “Absolutely nothing. No change in dress size. No, nothing.”
The friend also revealed that she and Packer had drunk “a lot” of wine and cocktails together. Packer also discussed period pains and “asked to borrow tampons”.
The friend later confirmed that she gave tampons to Packer and that this was around the time they had been isolating at home. The pal continued: “We had discussions about period pains, had discussions about whether hers were worse than mine, because I was going through menopause.
“We had a discussion about that in October, she asked whether I had any tampons.”