Salford Mum Dies After ‘Vinegar Abortion'

22 May 2012, 16:57 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A mum-of-five from Salford has died after trying to abort her baby by drinking vinegar.

38 year old Catherine Furey, suffered a fatal reaction to the industrial-strength liquid. She was rushed to hospital but later died.

Police arrested her sister-in-law and best friend Dawn Chadwick who handed her the vinegar bottle.

Mrs Chadwick was also later charged with manslaughter for allegedly helping Mrs Furey abort the baby.

But she was found not guilty when I went to court.

Mrs Furey's family say they do not blame Mrs Chadwick, a mother-of-four with learning difficulties, for the death.

Mrs Chadwick apparently took the bottle of vinegar – similar to the one’s used in chip shops - out of a cupboard and passed it to Mrs Furey, who researched using vinegar for an abortion on the web.

Mrs Chadwick, from Monsall, Manchester, was arrested in July 2011 and charged with unlawfully supplying a poisonous or noxious substance with the intent to cause the miscarriage of a woman.

In January that charge was raised to manslaughter, but after a review it was decided Mrs Chadwick won’t face court action.

Kevin Rogers, branch crown prosecutor for the CPS, said: “This was a tragic case, the consequences of which sadly led to the death of Catherine Furey.”

Solicitor Alex Preston, speaking on behalf of Dawn Chadwick's family, said: “Catherine died in tragic circumstances. From the outset, her family made it abundantly clear to both the police and the CPS that they did not blame Dawn for Catherine's death.”