Pregnant woman’s jail sentence quashed in ‘landmark’ UK ruling

Judges at the court of appeal, in the Royal Courts of Justice, said the case was ‘exceptional’. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

The court of appeal has quashed the prison sentence of a heavily pregnant woman so that she can give birth safely, in a case hailed as a landmark by campaigners.

The woman, 22, is almost eight months pregnant and has been diagnosed with potentially life threatening pre-eclampsia, which affects the mother’s blood vessels and the baby’s blood supply.