A born-again Christian who believes abortion is a sin failed yesterday to ­convince a judge that he need not stand trial for murder after he admitted shooting dead an ­abortion doctor.

Scott Roeder, 51, told the court in Wichita, Kansas, that on 30 May 2009, the day before he shot George Tiller, he had bought a .22-calibre gun and bullets and then practised target shooting with his brother. He checked into a motel in Wichita and the next day followed Tiller to the Reformation Lutheran church, where the doctor was an usher.

His defence lawyer asked: “Did you go and shoot Dr Tiller?” Roeder replied: “Yes.”

The fact Roeder was the killer, with a single shot to the head, was not in doubt, but the confession was an attempted defence that he felt forced to act to save the lives of unborn children. He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, and it was the first time in US legal history that an anti-abortionist was allowed to present the jury with his justification for murder.

The judge, Warren Wilbert, dismayed pro-abortionists and doctors this month when he ruled that Roeder could present his justification. They feared that if a jury were to find him guilty of just manslaughter it would encourage more attacks. But after Roeder gave his evidence, Wilbert ruled that the jury could not consider the lesser charge, since abortion, including late-term abortion, is legal in Kansas, and Tiller did not pose an imminent threat.

Tiller had long been a target for anti-abortionists as he was one of few doctors prepared to ­perform legal abortions after 21 weeks of gestation. In 1986 his clinic was bombed and in 1993 he was shot in both arms, but he carried on working.

Read more at The Guardian.

A doctor who attempted to poison his lover in a bid to induce a miscarriage has been jailed for six years.

Edward Erin, 44, of west London, spiked 33-year-old Bella Prowse’s drinks after she became pregnant but refused to have a termination, the Old Bailey heard.

Miss Prowse, a secretary at the hospital where Erin worked, noticed her coffee and juice had been tampered with, and drug traces were later found.

Erin was found guilty of two charges of attempting to administer poison.

Sentencing the married father-of-two, who is originally from Caerphilly in South Wales, Judge Richard Hone called Erin “a liar, a cheat and a predator”.

He said the doctor, who worked at St Mary’s Hospital, led a fantasy life and had “betrayed his profession and his family”.

He added that Erin’s wife “deserves somebody better than you who goes on the prowl”.

Dr Lowri Erin had defended her husband during the trial and said that she was aware of his affairs.

Read more at BBC Health.