A hospital consultant was jailed for six years today for spiking his pregnant lover’s drinks to make her lose her baby.

Dr Edward Erin, a 44-year-old married man, was found guilty last month of two charges of attempting to administer poison to procure an abortion after spiking Bella Prowse's coffee and orange juice.

Miss Prowse, 33, spotted that her drinks had been tampered with and took them to the police, the Old Bailey heard. Tests showed they contained drugs which induced abortion although Miss Prowse later gave birth to a healthy boy, Ernie.

Sentencing Erin to six years on each count, to be served concurrently, Judge Richard Hone said that he had been exposed "as a liar, a cheat and a predator" who led a fantasy life which resulted in him betraying his wife and the medical profession.

Erin, wearing a dark suit and tie, stood with his hands crossed, staring at the judge and not blinking during the 20-minute sentencing. Miss Prowse sat in the public gallery above, being hugged by her sister, as he was led away to the cells.

Clare Montgomery QC, defending, said he had been threatened in high-security Belmarsh prison and was being treated as a vulnerable prisoner.

Ms Montgomery said: "According to prison law, Dr Erin is a man who is to be attacked in prison. His first night was spent with other prisoners screaming threats on his life. His life, he explains, has been destroyed and it falls to your lordship to sentence a man who feels his life is over."

The jury had heard that Erin was a serial philanderer who dated women as if he were still a bachelor. His brief romance with Miss Prowse started at an office Christmas party in December 2007.

A month later, she found she was pregnant. Erin, who thought she was on the Pill, begged her to have an abortion but Miss Prowse felt guilty about an earlier termination she had in 2002, and cancelled appointments at a clinic.

Erin was thrown into a panic, trying desperately to get her not to go ahead with the pregnancy.

Miss Prowse, who has a daughter from a previous relationship, told the court: "He said we could not have a baby. He was not ready to have a baby. If I had a baby, it would destroy him. He said it would kill him and that he would have to leave work."

He had sent her texts including one which said: "I am in a very dark place, love. I want to die but that would be too selfish."

Erin wrote a prescription for anti-inflammatory, abortion-inducing drugs, made out in the name of his German teacher, the court heard. He ground up the tablets at his flat on February 2, where his wife saw him but was told he was doing it for work.

After a short trip to America, he laced the drinks on February 7 and 8 last year. He put powder in her Starbucks coffee but she noticed it had been opened. The following day, he put some in orange juice at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, west London, where they both worked, but she noticed the seal was broken.

He was arrested on February 14, last year, after Miss Prowse went to police.

Erin said that he got the drugs without intending to use them and only after discussing it with Miss Prowse.

Erin’s wife, microbiologist Dr Lowri Erin, was not in court today but said after the verdict that she would stand by her husband and did not believe he was guilty. She said: "How can the jury take the word of a woman out for revenge against that of a doctor of good character who has done nothing but help people all his life?"

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