Teesside woman cleared over lockdown abortion charges after CPS offers no evidence

The prosecution case against Bethany Cox, 22, relied on 1861 law condemned as cruel and outdated by campaigners

Prosecutors have offered no evidence against a woman accused of using drugs to bring about an illegal abortion as the first UK coronavirus lockdown ended.

Bethany Cox, 22, was on Tuesday formally found not guilty of charges that had been brought under a Victorian law condemned as cruel and outdated by campaigners – the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act.