'Doctor spiked my tea to induce miscarriage'

A medical secretary told a court yesterday that her doctor lover spiked her Earl Grey tea to make her have a miscarriage.

Bella Prowse, 33, said she found herself pregnant after starting an affair with married hospital consultant Edward Erin.

But she refused to have an abortion even though he begged her to and said she had ruined his life, the Old Bailey heard.

Miss Prowse, an unmarried mother of a daughter, said she found yellow powder after Dr Erin made her a cup of tea.

But when she queried it, she claimed he had rinsed the cup and told her it was fur from her kettle.

The court was told that Dr Erin, 44, allegedly made two more attempts in February, last year, to poison Miss Prowse - once in her coffee and then in orange juice.

But she became suspicious of her boss and did not drink any more of the liquids.

Police later found miscarriage-inducing drugs in the cup and beverages, the court heard.

The doctor was arrested and Miss Prowse went on to have a healthy baby. Dr Erin, of Gratton Road, Kensington, west London, denies procuring poison to be used with the intention of causing a miscarriage between January 21 and February 8, 2008, administering poison to procure a miscarriage, and two charges of attempting to administer poison.

Dr Erin worked for St Mary's hospital, Paddington, west London, as consultant in the chest and allergy clinic, where Miss Prowse was his secretary. Dr Erin is accused of using three different drugs in his attempts to procure the miscarriage.

Miss Prowse said they began an affair after the office Christmas party in December 2007.

But by January 21 last year, she found out she was pregnant. Erin tried to persuade her to have an abortion, but she cancelled two appointments. She wiped away tears and sobbed as she explained she had had an earlier abortion in 2002 and felt guilt that she had made a mistake. The trial was adjourned until today.