Woman who aborted baby at 40 weeks has jail term reduced
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A woman who was jailed for aborting her baby at 40 weeks has had her sentence reduced to three and a half years.
Drugs
Sarah Catt (36) from North Yorkshire took drugs to induce her labour just one week before she was due to give birth.
She claimed that the baby was stillborn, but has refused to reveal where she buried the body.
Sentence
In September, Leeds Crown Court sentenced Mrs Catt to 8 years in prison, stating that the seriousness of the crime lay somewhere between murder and manslaughter.
Passing the ruling, Mr Justice Cooke said that Mrs Catt would have been convicted of murder had she killed the baby after giving birth.
Guilty
Mrs Catt pleaded guilty to administering a poison with the intent to procure a miscarriage.
But Lady Justice Rafferty, heading a panel of three judges in the Court of Appeal, said that the sentence was “manifestly excessive”, and cut it to three and a half years.
Mrs Catt was described in her trial as "cold and calculating" with a psychiatric report excluding mental disorder.
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