Duo's jail term for sperm deal suspended
Source: Agencies |
October 13, 2010, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TWO men who earned 250,000 pounds (US$395, 132) through an unlicensed fertility company, matching sperm donors with women trying to conceive, escaped jail yesterday.
Nigel Woodforth, 43, and Ricky Gage, 49, were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court, central London, yesterday to nine months in jail, suspended for two years.
The two defendants were convicted of three charges of providing sperm without a license or third-party agreement.
"Your disregard of the warnings you were given is, in my judgment, a serious aggravating feature in this case," Judge Deborah Taylor said.
Under the Human Fertilization and Embryology Act, a license is needed by anyone wanting to "procure, test or distribute" any sperm or eggs.
The two defendants are the first to be prosecuted under the Act. Gage and Woodforth were arrested in April 2009 after an undercover police investigation.
Nearly 800 women had signed up to use the online service provided by the company, operating under various names including Sperm Direct Limited and First4Fertility, from the basement of Woodforth's Reading home.
After paying an 80-pound joining fee and 300 pounds to use the service, the women would then choose from a list of men and the sperm would be delivered to their homes through a courier company at 150 pounds per delivery.
Nigel Woodforth, 43, and Ricky Gage, 49, were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court, central London, yesterday to nine months in jail, suspended for two years.
The two defendants were convicted of three charges of providing sperm without a license or third-party agreement.
"Your disregard of the warnings you were given is, in my judgment, a serious aggravating feature in this case," Judge Deborah Taylor said.
Under the Human Fertilization and Embryology Act, a license is needed by anyone wanting to "procure, test or distribute" any sperm or eggs.
The two defendants are the first to be prosecuted under the Act. Gage and Woodforth were arrested in April 2009 after an undercover police investigation.
Nearly 800 women had signed up to use the online service provided by the company, operating under various names including Sperm Direct Limited and First4Fertility, from the basement of Woodforth's Reading home.
After paying an 80-pound joining fee and 300 pounds to use the service, the women would then choose from a list of men and the sperm would be delivered to their homes through a courier company at 150 pounds per delivery.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
