Father planned with thugs to kill his pregnant mistress' unborn baby in knife

A man who paid to have his pregnant mistress beaten up to get rid of their unborn child has today been jailed for seven years.

Jamie Smith, 23, conspired with two friends to get rid of the child after learning Jessica Santos, 18, had become pregnant during their affair.

Smith planned to lure Miss Santos to a park in Peterborough, Cambs, on the pretence of discussing the pregnancy, where Steven Blades and a third man would attack her with a knife and crowbar.

Smith, who was in a relationship with another girl, wanted to make the attack look like a robbery and also intended to be injured.

The knife would be used to threaten him and Miss Santos before both were assaulted.

But his twisted plot was foiled when the third man refused to get involved and alerted police. Smith and Blades were arrested on February 21, the day the attack was set to take place.

Smith, of Peterborough, was charged with conspiring to cause grievous bodily harm but tried to claim others had hatched the plan.

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Miss Santos met Smith on Facebook where the pair started talking, before the first met shortly before Christmas last year

However he was unanimously convicted after a five-day trial at Peterborough Crown Court and jailed for seven years.

Blades, of Peterborough, admitted the same charge and was jailed for 12 months.

Both men were both given a 10 year restraining order against the victim by Judge Sean Enright.

Outside court Miss Santos - who is now eight months pregnant - said: 'Part of me wants to believe that he was put up to this by someone, but deep down I know that is not the case.

'It hurts a lot to know that someone I felt so close to could plan this behind my back, yet so still be so nice to my face. It's just evil.

'Nobody has the right to say whether someone, especially a baby, should live or die.

'If Jamie did not want to get involved with the baby he didn't have to and he knew this. This makes what he arranged even harder to understand.

'When my child is old enough I will tell them about this and let them decide if they want a relationship with Jamie - until then I will do everything I need to do to protect my child.'

After the case Detective Constable Vicky Speirs said: 'This was a sickening and extremely dangerous plot to cause a young woman to lose her unborn child.

'It is incomprehensible how anyone would want to carry out such a hurtful and violent act.

'It was an incredibly selfish act by Smith who gave no thought as to what effect his actions could potentially have on the victim.

'Given the level of violence they were prepared to use, we could quite easily have been dealing with a murder.

'Thankfully, one of those men recruited by Smith to carry out his dirty work saw sense and contacted the police so we could intervene and prevent such a serious incident taking place.'

Smith met victim Jessica Santos at an after school disco in 2011 and they began messaging on Facebook.

The pair met up shortly before Christmas 2013 despite both being in relationships with other people.

Smith, 23, got the 18 year-old pregnant on the only occasion they had sex, in his black Toyota.

Smith then demanded his lover terminate their unborn child but after she refused he vowed to have no contact with his baby.

Smith then planned the attack - even visiting the secluded park in Peterborough, Cambs.,where the assault was due to take place.

He paid two men to attack both he and Miss Santos with a crowbar and a knife which he hoped would end her pregnancy. 

Michael Proctor, prosecuting, said: 'Smith made it clear he didn't want anything to do with the child and didn't want his name to appear on the birth certificate.

'In fact at that time he made it clear he wanted her to terminate the pregnancy. He effectively came up with a plan for Jessica Santos to lose her unborn child.

'The plan was for him and Jessica to be out walking by a rowing lake and then to be attacked by two men armed with a wheel brace and knife.

'Jessica was to be grabbed, held down and the wheel brace used to cause injuries to cause her to miscarry.'

But the plot was foiled when the third man contacted police and Blades tried to pull out of the sick conspiracy.

Sentencing Smith, Judge Enright said: 'You have no previous convictions and are of good character but that is a sham.

'The victim impact statement shows the very great distress you have caused to this girl.

'A weapon would have been used and it did not take place through any effort of yours to stop it.'

Also jailing father-of-two Blades, 23, Judge Enright said he would reduce his sentence in light of his early guilty plea and the fact he tried to pull out of the attack at the last moment. 

He also said Blades would receive a reduction after being physically assaulted in prison as a result of standing as a prosecution witness.

Jude Enright also said that Blades was 'not of a earthy state of mind' at the time of the incident.

Jenni Dempster, mitigating for Blades, revealed he was suicidal at the time of the incident after the breakup of his engagement to Charlotte Desmond, 21.

She said: 'Blades realised to embark on this entire was nothing short of terrible. He was at a point in his life where he was significantly depressed. He was at a place where he felt there was no reason to carry on with his life.'

Neil Corries, mitigating for Smith, said victim Miss Santos has a 'bigger reason not to trust anyone again' after being attacked.

He said: 'She describes the affect on her emotional state as getting angry easily and bursting into tears.

'She said when her child is old enough to understand he will have to tell them about this and let them decide whether they want a relationship with their father.'

Mr Corries said Smith was of previous good character and that his actions had caused great distress to his family.

He added: 'Jamie Smith has caused distress to his family as well and this is one of the many consequences of his offending.

'For them it is so out of character that they find it difficult to imagine how he got into this position.

'He understands he has got to be positive about this sentence that he is going to serve.'

Victim Jessica, 18, whose family are from Portugal, has opted not to find out the sex of her baby until it is born.