SIGNIFICANT SHORTS : Abortion victim awarded damages

Damages have been awarded to a housewife who was given a hospital abortion without her consent. Lawyers acting for Amanda Flewitt reached an out-of-court settlement with North Nottinghamshire Health Authority, which runs the troubled King's Mill Hospital in Sutton-in-Ashfield, which is being sued by two other women.

Mrs Flewitt, 35, from Derby, was admitted to the hospital for a routine womb operation in January 1993. But she claimed doctors failed to wait for the result of a pregnancy test before going ahead with the operation. Two days later, she discovered she had been pregnant and the foetus had been destroyed. The health authority admitted liability. Neither side revealed the damages, although the figure was thought to be around pounds 10,000.