Adeleke Adelani, a Nigerian in the United Kingdom, has been sentenced to more than 13 years’ imprisonment after unlawfully aborting the pregnancy of his former partner on Valentine’s Day.

The incident occurred in 2020 when the 28-year-old deceitfully lured the woman, who is not officially named, to his house in Letterkenny, Ireland under the pretense of discussing further about the pregnancy, said Gript media.

However, upon the arrival of the victim, who was nine-week pregnant at that time, Mr Adelani, using threat, forced her to take five tablets of misoprostol.

The defendant, who is currently serving a seven-year sentence for a separate offence, was arrested by police. He was due to stand trial in November last year but pleaded guilty before jury selection started.

In her victim impact statement during the sentencing on Thursday, the woman said, “I have forgiven the defendant. The forgiveness does not mean what he did was acceptable. It means I refuse to let what he did continue to control my heart and my life.

“When he wrongfully imprisoned me and caused the termination of my nine-week pregnancy, he took far more than my freedom. He took my child. He took my sense of safety. He took a future that I had already begun to plan and love.”

Meanwhile, Mr Adelani, in a letter to the victim that was read in court, took responsibility for his actions and was “heavily apologising” for the pain he caused.

Delivering his judgment, Judge John Alymer of the Letterkenny Circuit Court, sentenced Mr Adelani to 11 years in prison with the final two years suspended, for causing the unlawful termination of a pregnancy.

He was also sentenced to five years, with the final 12 months suspended, for assault causing harm. The two sentences will run concurrently.