Expectant moms 'poisonous' drinking brought before court
Expectant mothers who drink may be held responsible for poisoning the unborn child, depending on the court ruling, U.K. media reported Monday. / Alamy
By Lee Kyung-min
Expectant mothers who drink may be held responsible for poisoning the unborn child, depending on the court ruling, U.K. media reported Monday.
The case claims a six-year-old girl who suffered brain damage due to alcohol exposure in the womb is the victim of a crime.
A local council led by Neil Sugarman, a managing partner at GLP Solicitors, brought the case to the Court of Appeals as a test case with far-reaching impact on expectant mothers.
He said he brought the case after he was “approached by a local authority with responsibility for a child very badly damaged as a consequence of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).”
The council is seeking reprisal through the criminal injury compensation scheme.
“We thought there was an argument that the child had been damaged by being the victim of a crime. The crime being the birth mother carrying on drinking knowing that it could damage the child,” Sugarman added.
Some 7,000 babies are found to suffer problems due to alcohol intake of their birth mothers during gestation, according to local police, Telegraph added.
Meanwhile, local councils and adoptive parents could be awarded compensation, on behalf of affected children, to help pay for their medical costs.