Lawyer in call for update of baby law

Reporter: Lucy Kenderdine
Date published: 23 April 2015


THE lawyer for an Oldham teenager who punched his pregnant girlfriend in the stomach says the law surrounding the death of an unborn baby needs to be updated.

Dusan Bako (18) was sentenced to four years and eight months in a young offenders’ institution after admitting grievous bodily harm with intent. Bako, of Copster Hill Road, punched his then 16-year-old girlfriend, then seven months pregnant, during an argument last August. The girl miscarried the baby.

The aspiring rapper was originally charged with child destruction, later dropped to the GBH charge.

Defence lawyer Alison Mafham believes there is a loophole in the law. Child destruction, an offence under the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929, applies to the death of some unborn babies and can carry a life sentence.

The law only applies to babies who could have survived outside the womb at that point - generally seen as after 24 to 28 weeks. Legal abortion is an exception.

But only 16 people in England and Wales in the past 11 years have been found guilty of the crime.

Ms Mafham, a partner at Richard Silver Solicitors, said: “The prosecution has to prove that not only have you killed a child capable of being born alive, but you intended to kill it, and that’s quite a hard thing to prove in law.”

The law doesn’t recognise any offence against the unborn child if the attacker’s intention was to harm rather than kill the baby, or hurt or kill its mother. There is no manslaughter-equivalent charge when the unborn baby dies as a result of an attack on the mother. Prosecutors find it easier to lay charges against the harm done to the mother, rather than against the child.

Ms Mafham added: “This law was originally brought into force to counter the rise in backstreet abortions in the 1920s. It hasn’t been updated since and no longer reflects modern society.

“I’ve certainly seen a rise in domestic violence against pregnant women, particularly among teen pregnancies, but there is still no law against assaulting the unborn child.

“It is not for me to say what the law should be, but I believe it should be certainly looked at.”

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