Richard William Starkie (1876–1937) was a

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doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

who was charged with distributing illegal

narcotic The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "I make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...

s while providing

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

s in 1921. Starkie was a well-known London doctor who was a member of the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations ...

, licentiate of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

, Police

Surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

for the Y Division of the Metropolitan Police, and medical officer to the St. Pancras Battalion. He began performing illegal abortions on women during the early 1900s. He continued providing abortions until his arrest on 17 July 1921, and was charged with administering narcotics for the purpose of providing an abortion for a married woman as well as prior abortion operations for four unmarried patients. The British Crown's case was prosecuted by Sir

Richard David Muir Sir Richard David Muir (1857–1924) was a prosecutor for the British Crown, widely regarded as the greatest of his time; he played a prominent role in many of the most sensational trials of the early part of the 20th century, most notably that of ...

. Although acquitted on the abortion charges, Starkie was found guilty for administering illicit drugs and sentenced to nine months hard labor at

Wormwood Scrubs Prison HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs (nicknamed "The Scrubs") is a Category B men's local prison, located in the White City area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Ser ...

. He was reportedly met by about 600 of his former patients following his release. Starkie lost his medical qualifications as a physician and his name was removed from the Medical Register. In 1929, Starkie was convicted of illegally writing prescriptions for heroin. Due to Starkie's age and poor health, the judge changed the initial sentence of 12 months at hard labor to 12 months in prison. After prison, Starkie and his wife used their home as a boarding house. He died in "relative obscurity" in 1937 at the age of 61.

References

Other sources

* * * *Hallam, Christopher. ''White Drug Cultures and Regulation in London'', 1916–1960. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018. Year of birth missing Year of death missing British abortion providers 20th-century British criminals {{Abortion-stub