UK: collapsed trial woman says she gave birth "alone" in prison

A woman held in custody for more than 13 months before her trial collapsed has told the BBC she hopes someone will be punished for the failures which led to her giving birth in prison.

The trial of Petruta-Cristina Bosoanca - held on trafficking and prostitution charges - was stopped after evidence cast doubt on the complainant’s story. “Nobody is going to give me this 13 months back,” said Ms Bosoanca. Judge Gregory Perrins said there had been “wholesale failures”.

Ms Bosoanca, 25, was arrested in December 2016 and was released from HMP Bronzefield on Monday. She said it was “very difficult” giving birth five months ago to her baby boy, Christian. “There was no-one with me,” she said. “In the moments when I was supposed to be happy, I was happy but unhappy at the same time.”

The trial of Adrian Iordan, Anisoara Lautaru and Ms Bosoanca was stopped on its 17th day, after the complainant in the case had been cross-examined. Some 65,000 lines of text messages were disclosed to the defence on day two. Ms Bosoanca said she repeatedly insisted she was not guilty and that she “needed to show” it. “I knew it, at the beginning I asked for my phone, I asked for the pictures, CCTV, I asked for everything but they (didn’t) care,” she said. Ms Bosoanca’s question now is: “Why they don’t discover everything earlier? I was waiting for them to see the truth.” “They were incompetent all of them,” she added. “They kept me far away from my family, from my son.” A senior prosecutor apologised to the court and said the CPS’s handling of the case had “fallen below standard”.

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