the times | Thursday November 25 2021 21
News
A showjumper with a spinal defect is
suing her mother’s doctor for millions
of pounds, arguing that she should
never have been born.
Evie Toombes, 20, was born with
spina bifida and sometimes spends
24 hours a day connected to treatment
tubes. However, she has become a
prominent showjumper and aims to
compete in the paralympics.
In a unique “wrongful conception”
damages claim, Toombes, from Skeg-
ness in Lincolnshire, is suing Dr Philip
Mitchell over his alleged failure to
advise that her mother take vital
supplements before getting pregnant.
Toombes has claimed in court that,
had the doctor advised Caroline Toom-
bes to take folic acid to minimise the
risk of spina bifida in her baby, her
mother would have put off getting
Police are investigating whether a
teenager was abducted by a stranger at
a bus stop as the community mourn her
death and fear for women’s safety.
Bobbi-Anne McLeod, 18, left home at
6pm on Saturday to go to Plymouth
town centre but never arrived. Her
body was found by police near Bovis-
and, nine miles from where she went
missing. Formal identification has not
yet been carried out.
Two men from Plymouth, aged 24
and 26, have been arrested on suspicion
of murder. A source said the case was
likely to have been a stranger abduction
and police are investigating a possible
sexual motive, The Guardian reported.
Lee McLeod, 20, McLeod’s brother,
shared a photograph of the two of them
as children. “Until we meet again sis. I
love you. You didn’t deserve this. Such a
beautiful and talented girl and to have
you as my little sister. The adventure we
had been on will always be treasured.
Now go rest easy,” he wrote.
Luke Pollard, the MP for Plymouth,
Sutton & Devonport, said Britain had a
“cultural problem” with violence
against women. In August five people
were shot dead in Plymouth before the
killer turned the gun on himself.
Women in Plymouth are working
with the campaign group Reclaim the
Streets to organise a vigil for McLeod
tomorrow evening.Stranger at bus stop feared
to have abducted teenager
Katie Gibbons
Disabled showjumper sues GP over her birth
pregnant until she had done so and Evie
Toombes would never have been born.
Spina bifida is a neural tube defect in
which a foetus’s spinal cord does not
develop properly, creating a gap in the
spine. The neural tube is the structure
that eventually becomes the baby’s
brain and spinal cord.
Toombes’s barrister, Susan Rodway
QC, told the High Court in London that
the claim centred on Toombes “having
been born in a damaged state” and that
she wanted damages to cover the cost of
living with her disabilities.
Mitchell, who then worked at the
Hawthorn Medical Practice in Skeg-
ness, denies liability, arguing that he
gave the mother “reasonable advice”.
Medics routinely advise prospective
mothers of the benefits of taking folic
acid supplements before conceiving
and throughout the first 12 weeks of
their pregnancy.The court was told that the mother,
who is now 50 and also a keen rider, had
sought advice from her GP in 2001
about her plans to have a first baby.
Rodway told Judge Rosalind Coe that
Toombes’s parents had “been refrain-
ing from sexual intercourse until after
they had received advice at this
consultation”.
Although folic acid was discussed,
the mother alleges that Mitchell did not
emphasise its importance in preventing
spina bifida. “He told me it was not
necessary,” she said. “I was advised that
if I had a good diet previously, I would
not have to take folic acid.”
Rodway told the court that if Toom-bes’s mother had delayed pregnancy,
she would have had a “normal, healthy”
baby but a “genetically different per-
son”. After her birth, Toombes was di-
agnosed with a lipomyelomeningocele,
a defect associated with spina bifida
that leads to permanent disability.
About 700 babies are born with spina
bifida in the UK each year. In Septem-
ber the government said that folic acid
would be added to non-wholemeal
wheat flour across the UK, estimating
that this could help to prevent about
200 neural tube defects per year.
Toombes’s mobility is said to be “very
limited” and she will increasingly de-
pend on a wheelchair. The court wastold that she also suffers with bowel and
bladder issues.
Michael De Navarro QC, for Mitch-
ell, said that the doctor denied liability
and had given “reasonable advice”
about folic acid supplements. It had
been his usual practice to tell prospec-
tive parents that 400 micrograms
should be taken while trying to con-
ceive and in the first trimester. He
would have said that if the mother had
a good diet and therefore high folic acid
level, supplements would be less impor-
tant, but he denied saying that they
were not necessary.
Judgment has been reserved and will
be given at a later date.Jonathan Ames Legal Editor
CHAMPION NEWSEvie Toombes says that her mother, Caroline, was not given good advice before
conceiving her, and wants millions of pounds to cover the costs of her disability
Bobbi-Anne
McLeod, 18, was
last seen at a bus
stop heading into
Plymouth city
centre to meet
friends