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Man found guilty of poisoning
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Man found guilty of poisoning

Qays Najm/BBC Stuart Worby arrives at Norwich Crown Court wearing a black puffer jacket, black trousers and brown shoesKays Najm/BBC

Stuart Worby poisoned woman with illegally obtained abortion pills

A man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a pregnant woman and giving her medication to induce a miscarriage.

Stuart Worby administered the drugs in a glass of orange juice while the victim was blindfolded. The guise of “freaky sex”.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had a miscarriage in hospital in the summer of 2022.

The 40-year-old man, tried at Malthouse Court in Dereham, Norfolk, was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault against the woman and one count of administering poison or using an instrument to induce a miscarriage.

The jury at Norwich Crown Court returned the verdict unanimously after deliberating for more than five hours.

WhatsApp messages

WhatsApp conversations between Worby and co-defendant were shown to the court

Co-defendant Wayne Finney 41, of Station Street, Swaffham, Norfolk, was also on trial accused of deliberately encouraging or assisting Worby; but was found not guilty by the jury.

Mr Finney claimed he was only helping Worby research the procedure.

The jury was told Mr Finney’s girlfriend, Neuza Cepeda, 39, of Walnut Drive, Dereham, had already admitted supplying or procuring a device to be used to induce an abortion in connection with the case.

Qays Najm/BBC Wayne Finney arrives at Norwich Crown Court wearing a black jacket and smoking a cigarette.Kays Najm/BBC

Wayne Finney cleared of helping Worby

The case focused on the use of two drugs commonly used together—mifepristone and misoprostol—to induce miscarriage in early pregnancy.

Medications are usually given 24 hours apart and can be administered at home after consulting with the woman’s doctor.

Worby gave the woman mifepristone in a glass of orange juice without her consent.

Prosecutor Edmund Vickers KC told jurors the defendant administered misoprostol the next day while blindfolded under the guise of “weird sex” so he could not see what he was doing.

The victim told the court that she wanted to get pregnant and knowingly did not take medication.

Toxicology reports found traces of mifepristone in her blood and fetal tissue.

She contacted police when she saw messages sent to Mr Finney on Worby’s phone.

prison sentence

The defendant, who denied all the charges against him at his trial, told the jury that he had taken the drug illegally but never gave it to the woman.

High Court Judge Joel Bennathan QC, who presided over the trial, warned him that he would face an immediate prison sentence.

Mr Justice Bennathan said: “Mr Worby must understand that my sentencing review is about the number of years he will serve.”

Worby and Cepeda are expected to be sentenced on December 6.