'He took my child': Woman tells court of forced abortion ordeal in Donegal

Warning: Some readers may find the content of the below story distressing.

A man who forced his former partner in Donegal to take tablets which caused the termination of a pregnancy will be sentenced next week.

The case, believed to be one of the first of its kind in the State, was heard before Judge John Aylmer at Letterkenny Circuit Court.

The incident occured at a residential property in Donegal on Valentine’s Day, 2020. The man, who is in his 20s, pleaded guilty to the offence in November having initially entered a not guilty plea.

At a sentencing hearing, a Garda told prosecution barrister Mr Paul Greene SC that officers arrived at what was believed to be a domestic incident just before 2.20pm on the day in question.

At the house, a woman told officers that a man - who she described as her partner to investigating Gardai - had forced her to take five misoprostol 200mg tablets to procure an abortion and he also made threats that he would force an abortion with violence.

After taking the pills, the woman was locked in a bedroom of the house, but later made her escape.

The woman was taken to a hospital and was subsequently referred to the gynaecology department.

She told Gardai that she met the man via Snapchat. She fell pregnant in October 2019 and they made the decision together to terminate that pregnancy. The court heard that the woman received assistance from a GP who gave her prescribed abortion tablets.

In January 2020 she became pregnant again by the same man. This time, she wanted to think about whether or not to have an abortion and she decided that she wanted to keep the child.

The man was due to go on a holiday on February 7, 2020 but after learning that the woman had skipped an appointment with her doctor on February 6 - as she wished to keep the child - he cancelled the holiday.

The Garda told Mr Greene that the man led the woman by text to believe that they would have the baby together and that he was interested in the pregnancy.

The court heard that the defendant invited the woman to come to his house in Donegal and she travelled by bus, arriving at 2.30am on February 14.

The man recorded a conversation with the woman on his phone and a 40-minute recording was made available to the court.

Some of the audio was played in court while a transcript of the full conversation was also provided to Judge Aylmer.

The man refused to provide Gardai with the pin number for his phone and it took four years for them to gain access to the device. When unlocked, they found a trail of the man’s web history, which showed that he had sought information about how to conduct an at-home abortion.

At one stage, as he gave her tablets, the man was heard to say: “It’s either you eat this or I beat that kid out of you tonight. I’m dead serious…I’m forcing you. I don’t care. Take it.”

The Garda said that the woman had “very little to say” during the recorded conversation as she was crying throughout the ordeal.

After 20-30 minutes, the woman felt the tablets having an effect. She felt “feverish, shivering and cramps in her stomach” and she was said to be “in great pain. After going to the toilet, the court was told that the woman passed “large clots of blood” and began to feel the cramps decreasing.

Later, the man went to buy a pregnancy test and when he left the woman contacted Gardai.

The woman underwent a procedure to extract what remained of the foetus and was examined in a Sexual Assault Treatment Unit (SATU).

The accused man was taken into Garda custody and interviewed four times, but did not make any admissions.

“He was non-compliant,” said the Garda. “He did not associate with her (the victim) at all.”

In November 2025, the man pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawfully ending the life of a foetus contrary to section 23.2 of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018. The charge relates to administering, supplying or procuring any drug, substance, instrument, apparatus or other thing knowing that it was intended to be used or employed with intent to end the life of a foetus, or being reckless as to whether it was intended to be so used or employed.

He also pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting the woman and causing her harm contrary to section three of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997. Charges of making threats to kill or cause serious harm and false imprisonment were marked as taken into consideration by the court.

The woman, who is in her 20s and is now in a new relationship, addressed the court with a powerful and emotive victim impact statement.

“When he wrongfully imprisoned me and caused the termination of my nine-week pregnancy, he took far more than my freedom,” she said.

“He took my child. He took my sense of safety. He took a future that I had already begun to plan and love. My baby was real to me. I had hopes, dreams, and a bond with the life that was growing inside me, and all of it was violently stolen from me in a moment of cruelty that I will never forget.”

The woman said that the fact that the incident happened on Valentine’s Day made her pain “even deeper” as a day to celebrate love became a day where the defendant showed hatred to her and her unborn child.

She said: “While the world celebrated love, I was trapped, terrified, and losing my baby at the hands of someone I thought I could trust instead chose violence and not care.”

She told the court that the man’s denial caused her another layer of harm and said she lost friends through the process.

“During COVID, when the world was already isolating, I carried this trauma largely by myself,” she said. “I tried to distract myself just to survive the grief, the shock, and the emptiness left behind by the loss of my child and the life I believed I was going to have.”

She said healing and faith have helped her to open her heart again. She said that, arising out of her faith, she has forgiven the defendant.

“The forgiveness does not mean what he did was acceptable,” she said. “It means I refuse to let what he did continue to control my heart and my life.”

She added that the impact of the crime remains and added:  “I will always grieve my child. I will always remember what was taken from me. Healing does not erase the loss, it only means I learned how to live with it.

“I am here today to ensure justice is served and to honor my baby, my truth, and the strength it took to survive this. What happened mattered. My child mattered. And justice matters.”

Mr James McGowan SC, barrister for the accused man, told the court that his client’s behaviour in his teenage years was “chaotic and disruptive” and he was engaged in anti-social behaviour. The court heard that the man enjoys “positve support” from his parents and siblings.

He said the accused has struggled with mental health issues and engaged in cycles of excessive drug use.

The man, who has also suffered financial issues due to both his chaotic lifestyle and his chronic drug use, was previously involved in sport. 

In a letter to his victim, which was read in court, the accused man said he now takes full responsibility for his actions. 

He said he was “heavily apologising” for the pain he caused and added: “It was also my child and a hole was also pierced in my heart”.

He said: “The thought of the pain I caused weighed heavily. I am now summoning the strength to face you and say sorry; not because I got caught but because I took away something that can never be replaced.”

The man said he has been studying conflict resolution while in prison and the court heard that the defendant’s current partner is now three months pregnant. The man said he wants to support his partner, raise his child and “be the man my family needs me to be”.

He pleaded with Judge Aylmer for a second chance and his letter concluded: “I won’t take it for granted, if given.”

The prosecution case was led by Mr Greene SC, with Ms Fiona Craword BL, instructed by State Solicitor Mr Kieran Dillon. The accused was represented by Mr McGowan SC, with Mr Sean McGee BL, instructed by solicitor Mr Rory O’Brien.

The maximum penalty on such a charge is 14 years’ imprisonment.

Judge Aylmer said he would take time to consider the matter and will pass sentence at a later date.