Paramedic who secretly gave woman drug to abort their child jailed for 10 years
Stephen Doohan, 33, from Edinburgh, researched the topic of abortion online after the woman told him she was pregnant.
Doohan, who worked for the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS), was married when he met the woman on holiday in Spain in 2021 and began a long-distance relationship.
In March 2023, the woman travelled to Edinburgh to see him after learning she was pregnant, the High Court in Glasgow heard.
On March 17, Doohan inserted an abortion drug in her vagina without her knowledge during consensual sex, and the following day insisted on seeing her underwear after she noticed white discharge, the court heard.
Doohan had previously pleaded guilty to sexual assault and depositing a drug into her vagina causing her to abort, and depositing with intent to cause her to abort.
On Monday at the High Court in Glasgow, he was sentenced to ten years and six months in prison.
The court heard that while off-duty, Doohan checked for information about the drug on a work system just two days before he first gave it to the victim.
He convinced the woman to lie to medics at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary because he thought he would be arrested if she told the truth.
The victim attended another regional hospital with her sister and was told that she was having a miscarriage.
The court heard that in May 2023, the woman complained to the SAS, which launched an investigation.
During sentencing, Judge Lord Colbeck said that Doohan had told the victim that he did not want children, but she later became pregnant.
He said the victim's suspicions were raised after discovering the unusual discharge in her underwear and suffering stomach cramps.
The judge said she returned to Doohan's flat and looked under his mattress when he went to the toilet, where she found some tablets.
Lord Colbeck added: 'The complainer then carried out an internet search for abortion tablets and confronted you over your actions.'
Defending, Mark Stewart KC, said: 'I express Mr Doohan's deep sorrow and regret for the actions he is now in the court charged with.
'His position is that he is filled with remorse for the harm he has caused, and the breach of trust his actions represented.'
The court heard that Doohan had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and that he had no previous convictions.
Mr Stewart described Doohan's life as 'positive and useful'.
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