An Edinburgh woman has spoken out after she was secretly given an abortion drug by a paramedic to kill their unborn child.
Stephen Doohan is facing jail after he concocted a sick plan to end the woman’s pregnancy when she told him she was having his baby, reports The Daily Record.
The 33-year-old, who was a clinical team leader with the Scottish Ambulance Service, was married at the time.
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He crushed pills into a syringe before secretly administering the medication as she lay in bed at his home in Edinburgh’s upmarket Grange area in 2023, and gave her more of the drug days later.
Doohan pleaded guilty to the offence last week. A judge at the High Court in Glasgow warned he faces a lengthy jail term when he is sentenced next month.
The woman, who lost her baby as a result of Doohan’s actions, has since paid tribute to her ‘angel’.
Speaking anonymously, 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 hopes by speaking out about her tragedy, it will help other women come forward who have suffered abuse at the hands of a partner.
She added: “Going through that experience was traumatising, but every day now I feel grateful to simply be here, healing and reclaiming my life.
“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.
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The High Court in Glasgow heard on Friday how the victim fell ill after being administered the drugs in March 2023, including fainting in the shower, and then found a syringe and tablets.
Doohan had pleaded with her not to go to police – and tried to buy her silence with gifts.
Doohan’s victim has spoken out as he faces jail
But she eventually reported him to the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) having recorded a conversation with him effectively confessing.
Doohan was warned by a judge that he faces a lengthy jail term after he admitted his guilt. He will be sentenced next month.
He had met the woman on holiday in Spain in 2021. He had not said he was married and they remained in contact. In March 2023, the woman discovered she was pregnant with his baby.
By this time, Doohan had temporarily separated from his wife and was living in a flat in Edinburgh. Days later, Doohan and the woman had sexual activity.
He went on to do something she could not see, but she was not “suspicious of his actions” at that time.
This was the time he used the syringe. The next day the woman began to suffer stomach cramps and Doohan gave her diazepam for the pain.
The court heard she ended up in a “deep sleep” but woke to find Doohan “initiating sexual contact”.
This time she was suspicious but was also feeling the effects of the diazepam. Doohan went to the toilet and the woman looked under the mattress.
Prosecutor Scott McKenzie said: “She found a plastic syringe containing crushed tablets which had been pushed to the end of the syringe. Next to the syringe were two white tablets that were in the shape of a star.”
The woman immediately checked online for “abortion tablet”. Mr McKenzie said: “The search returned images that matched the tablet the woman had found.”
Doohan initially denied what he had done before sobbing, claiming he was “scared”. He said he had got the tablets from a doctor but that they would not “work” on the woman as it was the wrong dosage.
The traumatised woman phoned a friend who urged her to go to the police.
But she initially had concerns for Doohan, saying she did not want to “ruin” him if she was OK.
However, she recorded a later conversation in which he confessed to intimately inserting the syringe, before claiming he “could not go through with it”.
He accepted “fragments” of the drug may still have ended up in the woman’s system.
The woman also discovered he had been researching abortion on the internet. She tried to keep the tablets and syringe as proof but could not find them after she had gone to the bathroom.
The woman had to go to hospital on March 18, 2023, due to the ongoing pain.
Doohan went with her but pleaded he would be arrested if she “told the truth” and instead she was to say the pills came from “a friend of a friend”.
Mr McKenzie said: “Before speaking to medical staff, the woman and Doohan rehearsed what she was going to say.
“The midwife recalled her being distressed and concerned about the baby. Doohan appeared quiet and expressionless.”
The next day, the woman collapsed in the shower and had to return to hospital.
This time she insisted Doohan did not come into the examination room. Soon after, it emerged she had suffered a miscarriage.
Doohan forked out on various gifts, including perfume, socks, money to get her hair done and football tickets, to keep her quiet.
The last contact she had with him was in late June 2023.
The victim made a complaint to the SAS, handing over screenshots of messages as well as the conversation she recorded.
This information was soon passed to the police.
During the probe, it was discovered Doohan had checked for information on the drug misoprostol the day the woman said she was expecting.
The court heard misoprostol can be “administered for the purpose of managing a miscarriage or inducing a termination of pregnancy”.
Mr McKenzie said the woman has been “significantly affected” by her ordeal.
Doohan, now of Kirkliston, near Edinburgh, pled guilty to assault, sexual assault and causing the woman to have an abortion.
His not guilty plea to stealing misoprostol from the SAS was accepted.
Mark Stewart KC, defending, said Doohan was “deeply sorry” for what he had done.
Mr Stewart asked Lord Matthews to take the “exceptional course” of continuing bail as Doohan was to have further mental health assessments.
The judge agreed not to lock Doohan up in the meantime but added: “You have pled guilty to an appalling offence.
“There will be no alternative to a custodial sentence and, I must say, a fairly lengthy one.”
Doohan was also put on the sex offenders list.