Senior civil servant jailed for spiking pregnant mistress with abortion drug

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Married father-of-one Darren Burke, 43, former deputy director for the emergency services mobile communications programme at the Home Office, was sentenced to a total of 45 months in prison for crushing up an abortion pill and putting it in Laura Slade’s glass at her flat. The breach of the trust that Ms Slade placed in you had aversely affected Miss Slade's ability to trust others Judge Alistair Hammerton At a sentencing hearing on Thursday, Isleworth Crown Court Judge Alistair Hammerton told Burke “the breach of the trust that Ms Slade placed in you had aversely affected Miss Slade’s ability to trust others.” The court also heard how it “makes her feel sick” to think about what would have happened had she ingested the drug, how she had undergone PTSD therapy following the incident and felt “heartbreak” over his “betrayal” following their five-year affair. The court heard how Ms Slade had become suspicious when, on December 3 2020, Burke offered to bring a Starbucks latte or tea the following morning to her two-bedroom flat in Chiswick, west London.