Woman who denies illegal abortion tells of ‘shock’ on learning she was pregnant

A woman who denies having an illegal abortion said she was “very shocked” after learning she was pregnant, saying there were no prior signs, a court has heard.

Nicola Packer, 45, took abortion medicine at home on November 6 2020 and brought the foetus to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in a backpack the next day, it is alleged.

She is charged with “unlawfully administering to herself a poison or other noxious thing” with the “intent to procure a miscarriage”.

Packer wept as she gave evidence at her trial at Isleworth Crown Court in south-west London on Thursday, telling the jury she has never wanted children and that she believed the chances of getting pregnant in 2020 were “basically none” due to her age.

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.”

She took a pregnancy test on November 2 after experiencing stomach aches, though she did not believe that she was pregnant, jurors heard.

Asked how she felt when it came back positive, Packer said: “I was very shocked.

“I didn’t think I was pregnant… I was very, very shocked that it said positive.”

She added: “As I know I don’t want children I knew I would want a termination.”

Asked if that was her immediate reaction, Packer replied: “Yes.”

Packer, then 41 years old, took prescribed medications mifepristone and misoprostol when she was around 26 weeks pregnant, the court has heard.

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

It is alleged that Packer knew she had been pregnant for more than 10 weeks, which she denies.

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

The trial continues.