Featured Image Credit: Scottish Ambulance Service
Topics: Crime, News, UK News, Women's Health
Madison Burgess
Topics: Crime, News, UK News, Women's Health
Warning: This article contains discussion of baby loss which some readers may find distressing
A woman who was given an abortion pill without her knowledge by the man she was seeing issued a heartbreaking statement last month after her perpetrator pleaded guilty.
Scottish paramedic Stephen Doohan, 33, was jailed for 10 years and six months on Monday (7 July) for his crimes, after he pleaded guilty in May.
Before losing his job for his actions, he was a clinical team leader for the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) and even appeared in the BBC series Paramedics on Scene.
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Doohan first met the victim, who is not being named, while on holiday in Spain in 2021 and began a long-distance relationship with her, despite being married.
In March 2023, she travelled to Edinburgh to see him after finding out she was expecting his baby.
During consensual sex, Doohan inserted an abortion drug into the woman’s vagina without her knowledge.
After noticing unusual discharge in her underwear and suffering from stomach cramps, she returned to the paramedic’s flat the next day.
The woman then found some tablets hidden under the mattress and then confronted him over his actions, the court heard.
She tragically lost her baby because of his actions and spoke out last month about the ‘pain and trauma’ she endured.
In an emotional statement, reported by The Daily Record, she said: "Today was for you, my angel. No amount of time will ever undo the pain and trauma of the last two years. Today we finally got justice for you. We now can begin to move forward - not to forget, but to honour you with every step I take."
She added: "Going through that experience was traumatising, but every day now I feel grateful to simply be here, healing and reclaiming my life.”
The woman then issued a message of support to others who may have been through the same trauma.
She said: "If you are struggling with anything like this, please know that you don't have to go through it by yourself. Reach out - find someone you trust, a loved one, a counsellor, or even your local authorities. There is help out there, and there is hope.
"By sharing this, my deepest hope is that no other women ever has to go through what I went through. No woman should have her baby's life taken from her.”
The paramedic convinced the victim to lie to staff at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary because he knew he would be arrested if she told the truth of what happened.
She instead attended another regional hospital with her sister - without Doohan present - where she was told that she was having a miscarriage.
In May 2023, the woman complained to the Scottish Ambulance Service, which launched an investigation.
Judge Lord Colbeck imposed a non-harassment order for an indeterminate period of time on Doohan and he was suspended from the ambulance service once it learned of his actions.
If you need support and advice following a pregnancy loss, you can contact the Tommy’s team at [email protected]. You can also call them for f~ree on 0800 014 7800, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.