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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 791-2023
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 23rd August 2023 as follows:
Please provide details of how many a) arrests and b) charges have been made under each of the following legislation: i) s58 OAPA (1861), ii) s59 OAPA (1861) and iii) s1 Infant Preservation Act (1929) from January 1st 2012 to present. Please break these figures down year on year and by sex of the alleged perpetrator.
Please see exemplar FoI response from the Metropolitan Police on this link:
S58 OAPA/S59 OAPA (1861) & Infant Life Preservation Act (1929) CRIMES | Metropolitan Police
Please also include redacted copies of any relevant police reports related to each arrest and/or charge (in particular any noting details of whether the offence was committed via legally or illegally obtained abortion pills, physical assault, or other means), and if possible please also include any other illegal abortion arrests/charges made under other pieces of legislation.
Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in providing the response to your request and for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Due to system changes, information is only available from October 2017. Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.
Response: Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, places two duties on public authorities. Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at Section 1(1)(a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held. The second duty at Section 1(1)(b) is to disclose information that has been confirmed as being held.
When refusing to provide such information, because the information is exempt, Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Warwickshire Police to provide you the applicant, with a notice which:
(a) states that fact,
(b) specifies the exemption in question and
(c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.
I therefore confirm that Warwickshire Police do hold the requested information; however, not all the information is suitable for disclosure and is being withheld by virtue of the following exemption:
Section 40(2) Personal Information
Section 40 is an absolute class-based exemption, which does not require evidence of the harm disclosure would cause and does not require consideration of a public interest test. That being said, where Section 40(2) is engaged, in order to make the exemption absolute there needs to be evidence that a Data Protection Principle would be breached by disclosure.
This exemption is engaged where disclosure of information relates to personal data of a third party or could lead to the identification of an individual, either from that information alone or combined with any other information from within the Police Service or public domain, which is the case here. Disclosure of the withheld information would breach individuals’ rights under the Data Protection Act 2018, in particular Article 5(1) of the GDPR which states that personal data shall be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject.
This letter serves as a refusal notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act in relation to the withheld information. Information I am able to provide is set out below:
I can confirm that there was one arrest in 2019 for suspicion of Child Destruction, Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929 Sec 1.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided is as accurate as possible.
Your attention is drawn to the below which details your right of complaint.
Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write or email the Freedom of Information Unit quoting the reference number above.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Officer
Freedom of Information Unit
Warwickshire Police
PO Box 4
Leek Wootton
Warwickshire
CV35 7QB