U.K. woman sentenced for illegal abortion

MANCHESTER, England, May 26 (UPI) -- A British woman who underwent an illegal abortion is believed to be the first person ever convicted under the country's 78-year-old child-destruction law.

Maisha Mohammed, 22, of Manchester was given a year in prison Friday in a move anti-abortion activists said should lead to a crackdown on illegal abortion providers.

The Telegraph said Saturday that Mohammad had apparently aborted an illegitimate baby when she was more than seven months pregnant, although she never admitted she had done so and the fetus never turned up.

Police told the British newspaper Mohammed repeatedly changed her story and might not have been charged had she admitted what had happened. They continue to search for the person who carried out the procedure and presumably disposed of the unborn baby.