Woman ‘illegally aborted baby then took foetus to hospital in a backpack’

A woman illegally aborted her baby then took the foetus to hospital in a backpack and told doctors she had miscarried, a court has heard.

Nicola Packer, 41, allegedly took abortion medication at home during the Covid lockdown in November 2020.

She went to Chelsea and Westminster hospital the following day, jurors at Isleworth Crown Court were told.

Prosecutor Alexandra Felix KC said Packer told a nurse that she ‘thought she had miscarried’ and was 16 to 18 weeks pregnant.

She said an obstetrician estimated the female foetus was at 22 weeks but a post-mortem examination on November 13 found it had been healthy and around 26 weeks.

The legal limit for at-home abortions is 10 weeks.

Packer denies ‘unlawfully administering to herself a poison or other noxious thing’ with the ‘intent to procure a miscarriage’.

It is alleged that she knew she had been pregnant for more than 10 weeks.

Packer claims she did not believe she had been pregnant for that long, the court heard.

The typical full gestation term is 40 weeks and the outer limit for abortions in the UK is 24 weeks.

Packer later said she had learned about the pregnancy on November 2 but had started bleeding heavily, jurors were told.

She said she passed the foetus and some blood clots which she had brought with her in the bag, according to the prosecutor.

When the nurse returned to the room, she saw Packer looking at something on her phone, Ms Felix said.

The searches made while she was at the hospital included ‘is mifesopron detectable’ and ‘is the abortion pill detectable UK’, the prosecution said.

At this point Packer had not mentioned taking abortion medication, jurors were told.

Packer told two midwives on November 8 that she had taken abortion pills received in the post from Marie Stopes, one of the world’s largest providers of contraception and abortions, jurors heard.

She said she thought she was less than 10 weeks pregnant and when she had looked into the toilet bowl she saw ‘something larger than she had expected’, the court heard.

Police arrested her that day.

The court heard that Packer had been in a bondage, dominance and submission (BDSM) relationship with a husband and wife, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.

All three had been in the BDSM ‘scene’ and lived together from when the UK went into lockdown in March 2020 and during the relevant period, according to the prosecution.

The defendant had consensually adopted the role of a ‘submissive’ with the man, jurors were told.

His wife had agreed to the dynamic but that it be limited to sexual activity such as oral sex, tying up and using nipple clamps, Ms Felix said.

Sexual intercourse was not part of the agreement, Ms Felix said, adding that it ‘would appear however’ that they ‘may have in fact engaged in sexual intercourse’.

Jurors were told that the first relevant internet searches were made on November 2 and that day she also contacted Marie Stopes.

The searches made after speaking with the clinic included ‘is at home abortion treatment effective up to 12 weeks’ and ‘abortion limit UK’.

She spoke to Marie Stopes again on November 3 and requested a telephone appointment because it could be arranged more quickly than a video call, the court heard.

The following day she had a ‘full consultation’ with a nurse and was later sent the medications, the court heard.

Jurors were told that after taking at least the first medication, the day before she presented at hospital, Packer viewed a page titled ‘Medical Abortion from 10 weeks to 24 weeks BPA’.

She also searched ‘abortion at home at 15 weeks’ and ‘13 – 24 week medical abortion’, the court heard.

Packer later searched ‘late miscarriage’ and ‘how long does a later stage miscarriage take’, the court heard.

Ms Felix said: ‘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.’

Shortly after 5am on November 7 she searched ‘if you late miscarry at home what do you do with the fetus’ and ‘can the father take the miscarried fetus to the hospital to get rid of in the UK’, the prosecutor said.

Packer sat near her defence team in the courtroom wearing a black blazer, floral shirt and glasses.

The trial continues.

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