A married paramedic who secretly drugged his lover with a syringe laced with abortion pills to kill their unborn baby has been sentenced to a decade behind bars.
Stephen Doohan, 33, was married when he met the woman on holiday in Spain in 2021 and began a long-distance relationship.
The woman travelled to Edinburgh to see him after learning she was pregnant in March 2023, Glasgow High Court heard.
The paramedic then crushed pills into a syringe and administered the abortion pills as she lay on a bed at his home in Scottish city’s upmarket Grange area.
Doohan gave his lover, who was not aware he was married, more drugs days later, where she soon fell ill, and later fainted in the shower, jurors were told.
It later emerged the woman suffered a miscarriage as a result of Doohan’s actions.
The Clinical Team Leader with the Scottish Ambulance Service attempted to silence the woman with gifts, and begged her not to go to the police.
But, she eventually reported him to the Scottish Ambulance Service having recorded a conversation of him effectively confessing.
Today, he was sentenced to ten years and six months, after pleading guilty to assault, sexual assault and another charge of causing the woman to have an abortion.
Stephen Doohan, who secretly drugged his lover with a syring laced with abortion pills, killing their unborn child has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars
At the sentencing, Judge Lord Colbeck said the 33-year-old had put his victim, through ‘considerable pain’ for several days, and ‘left her facing a lifetime of pain and loss.’
‘You left her in what can only be described as considerable pain and anguish over the prospect of losing her child before she did, in fact, do so.
‘The offences committed by you, frankly, are almost as serious as any this court is ever asked to sentence.’
Lord Colbeck also imposed a non-harassment order banning him from approaching or contacting the woman.
The ambulance service suspended Doohan after his actions came to light, and he is no longer employed by them.
The court previously heard how Doohan had temporarily separated from his wife and was living at a flat in Edinburgh when he discovered the woman was pregnant in March 2023.
Days later, Doohan and the woman were involved in consensual sexual activity where he went to do something she could not see, but was not ‘suspicious of his actions’ at that time.
He had sued the laced syringe on his lover, and she began to suffer stomach cramps the following day, the court was told.
When they returned to the paramedic’s flat, he gave her diazepam for the pain.
The court heard she ended up in a ‘deep sleep’, but awoke to find Doohan ‘initiating sexual contact’.
This time she was suspicious of what he was then doing, but was also feeling the effects of the diazepam.
Doohan later went to the toilet and the woman took the chance to peek under the mattress.
Prosecutor Scott McKenzie explained: ‘She found a plastic syringe containing crushed tablets which had been pushed to the end of the syringe.
‘Next to the syringe were two white tablets that were in the shape of a star.’
The woman immediately checked online for ‘abortion tablet’.
Mr McKenzie: ‘The search returned images that matched the tablet the woman had found.’
Doohan initially denied what he had done before sobbing claiming he was ‘scared’.
He also said he had got the tablets from a doctor, but insisted they would not ‘work’ on the woman as it was the wrong dosage.
The traumatised mum-to-be phoned a friend who urged her to go to the police.
But, the woman initially had concerns for Doohan stating she did not want to ‘ruin’ him if she was okay.
She still, however, recorded a later conversation with him and it was then he confessed to intimately inserting the syringe, but stated he ‘could not go through with it’.
He did accept ‘fragments’ of the drug still may have ended up in the woman’s system.
The woman also discovered he had been researching abortion on the internet.
She tried to keep the tablets and syringe as proof, but could not find them after she had gone to the bathroom.
The woman then had to go to hospital on March 18 2023 due to the ongoing pain.
Doohan went with her, but pleaded that he would be arrested if she ‘told the truth’ and instead was to claim the pills came from ‘a friend of a friend’.
Mr McKenzie: ‘Before speaking to medical staff, the woman and Doohan rehearsed what she was going to say.
‘The midwife recalled her being distressed and concerned about the baby.
‘Doohan appeared quiet and expressionless.’
The next day, the woman collapsed in the shower and had to return to hospital.
She this time insisted Doohan did not come in the examination room.
It was soon after that it emerged she had suffered a miscarriage.
Sick Doohan then splashed out on various gifts including perfume, socks, money to get her hair done and football tickets to keep her quiet.
Mr McKenzie: ‘He made reference to her not reporting him to the police before telling her: ‘If they want to come and arrest me, I am in St John’s Hospital in Livingston’.’
The last contact she had with Doohan was in late June 2023.
The woman initially lodged a formal complaint with the Scottish Ambulance Service.
She handed over screenshots of messages as well as the conversation she recorded.
This information was soon passed to the police.
But Mr McKenzie explained: ‘Doohan discovered that she had made the complaint and asked that she send over the details of what she submitted.’
During the probe, it was discovered Doohan had checked for medical information on the drug misoprostol the same day the woman told him she was expecting.
The court heard misoprostol can be ‘administered for the purpose of managing a miscarriage or inducing a termination of pregnancy’.
Mr McKenzie said the woman has ben ‘significantly affected’ by her ordeal.
Doohan, now of Kirkliston, near Edinburgh, had also faced an allegation of stealing misoprostol from the Scottish Ambulance Service in Edinburgh, but a not guilty plea was accepted.
Mark Stewart KC, defending, said Doohan was ‘deeply sorry’ for what he had done.
The lawyer added he had issues at the time which affected his ‘judgement and decision making’ although that did not excuse what happened.
Doohan was also put on the sex offenders list.
