A PARAMEDIC who tricked a woman into having an abortion by putting drugs inside her during sex has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Stephen Doohan, 33, 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, 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 10 years and six months in prison.
The court heard that Doohan 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 Scottish Ambulance Service, which launched an investigation.
It revealed that on March 14, the day the woman told Doohan she was pregnant, he used a work intranet to search for abortion drugs, the court was told.
Police were then called in.
Sentencing, judge Lord Colbeck said: “You put her through considerable pain over a number of days, and left her facing a lifetime of pain and loss.”
He also said Doohan caused “long-term psychological injury” to his victim.
The court heard that the crimes occurred over 48 hours, starting on March 17 at Doohan’s flat in Edinburgh.
Lord Colbeck said that Doohan had told the victim that he did not want children, but she later became pregnant.
The judge said: “She felt something hard being inserted into her vagina and believed this was a sex toy.”
However, the following day, after discovering unusual discharge in her underwear, and suffering stomach cramps, she returned to Doohan’s flat.
The judge said: “She took some diazepam and went into a deep sleep, and felt you initiating sexual contact.
“She felt you inserting something hard from under the mattress. She was suspicious of your actions.
“When you went to the bathroom, she took the opportunity to look under the mattress.”
The woman found some tablets hidden under the mattress, the court heard.
Lord Colbeck added: “The complainer then carried out an internet search for abortion tablets and confronted you over your actions.”
The court heard that Doohan “rehearsed what she was to say” before they attended hospital in Edinburgh due to stomach cramps on March 18, and the day after, she attended a regional hospital with her sister so she could “disclose” what had happened, but was told she was having a miscarriage.
Lord Colbeck said: “You planned out what you did to your victim using resources available to you as a paramedic.”
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 has 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”.
