A man who forced an abortion on his pregnant mistress – who gave birth to a living 19-week-old foetus – has been jailed for six years.

The baby survived for just 10 minutes outside the womb after minicab driver Ahmed Raofi tied her up with gaffer tape and forced the tablets into her at an address in Holloway.

The 29-year-old had been having an affair with the victim, 39-year-old Irene Santos, and hatched the plan in anger after she fell pregnant and refused to terminate.

Pills

After returning home from his native Afghanistan, where he had been with his wife, Raofi attacked her and said he would punch the baby out of her, Blackfriars Crown Court heard.

He spent hours researching the internet to find out what pills to buy and then met her in Holloway on the promise of sex.

Prosecutor David Markham said: “They had made love on the night of April 9 and after that the defendant produced some gaffer tape and asked if she wanted a “Chinese massage.”

“The defendant then pulled her legs apart and she then felt at least four tablets go inside her.

“When she screamed he put the gaffer tape over her mouth.”

A few hours later the victim suffered abdominal cramps and bleeding and called 999. The foetus came out before the ambulance arrived and paramedics told the court he could see the baby breathing and moving for at least 10 minutes before it died.

Judge Aidan Marron, sentencing, said: “You denied a woman a much wanted child and the damage to that woman is manifestly profound.”

Det Con Aroon Rashid, from the community safety unit at Islington Police, said: “I hope this conviction would encourage anyone who has been through a similar experience to contact police and have faith that we will deliver them justice.”

Raofi, of Whitchurch Avenue, Edgware, admitted to administering a poison with intent to procure a miscarriage at Blackfriars Crown Court and was sentenced at the same court on September 20.