News
Excessive drinking during pregnancy is not a crime, judges
rule
A
child born with foetal alcohol syndrome is not legally entitled to compensation
after her mother drank excessively while pregnant, the Court of Appeal has
ruled.
The
seven-year-old girl was born with severe brain damage and is now in care. The
court heard how her mother had ignored warnings to drink eight cans of strong
lager and half a bottle of vodka a day.
The
council now caring for the girl (referred to as CP)* argued that the mother's
behaviour had made her daughter a victim of violence.
But
the appeal judges declared that the council was not entitled to a payout from
the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. Lord Justice Treacy said an
"essential ingredient" for a crime to be committed "is the
infliction of grievous bodily harm on a person - grievous bodily harm on a
foetus will not suffice".
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas) and
the childbirth charity Birthrights
welcomed the ruling.
Rebecca
Schiller, co-chair of Birthrights, and Bpas chief executive Ann Furedi said it
was "an extremely important ruling for women everywhere".
"The
UK's highest courts have recognised that women must be able to make their own
decisions about their pregnancies," they said.
"Both
the immediate and broader implications of the case were troubling. In seeking
to establish that the damage caused to a foetus through heavy drinking was a
criminal offence, the case called into question women's legal status while
pregnant, and right to make their own decisions."
Neil
Sugarman, the solicitor acting for CP, said the decision was "clearly
disappointing" and that the case was not about women's rights or
"criminalising women".
He
said GLP Solicitors, of which he is managing partner, represents about 80 other
children with FAS and that they would now be looking at the implications of the
ruling.
The
only legal option left is to seek to take the case to the Supreme Court.
The
NHS recommends that pregnant women should not drink at all - adding that those
who choose to have a drink should have no more than two units of alcohol once
or twice a week. Please
view the Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Trust website
for more information on the dangers of FASD.
*
Both the council and the girl cannot not be named for legal reasons.