A pregnant Bristol woman who accidentally killed her unborn twins by injecting herself with a drug to bring on their birth has been given a jail sentence after blaming a midwife for their death.

Faiso Sahil's babies were to be taken into care and she wanted them to arrive three weeks earlier than their due date to avoid social services.

Sahil, who trained as a midwife in her native Somalia, found bottles of the drug Syntometrine in a trolley in her delivery suite at Southmead Hospital in Bristol, and injected them into a cannula in her left hand in the early hours of April 11 2007.

The married mother of five, who was 37 weeks pregnant, thought the drug would induce her labour as a similar drug was used in Somalia and in the UK for this purpose.

But her twin boy and girl died within 20 to 60 minutes of the injection, which caused the blood supply to her placenta to be restricted, thereby cutting off the oxygen to her babies.

She then told consultant Simon Grant that her midwife Caroline Randall had given her the drugs during the night before the twins died, leading to Mrs Randall's arrest and suspension.

Sahil, 35, of Ullswater Road, Southmead, was today found guilty of perverting the course of justice and sentenced to 14 months in prison.

She was convicted in her absence at Bristol Crown Court after fleeing police and is thought to be in Finland with family.

Sahil was also sentenced to three and a half years after previously admitting child cruelty, for which she was being investigated during her pregnancy.

The two sentences are to run consecutively and Sahil will be arrested by police and brought back to the UK.

A statement issued by Mrs Randall following the case said: “This has been a truly devastating experience for me.

“I am pleased with today’s verdict. This has been hanging over me for more than two years and now I can try and put this behind me and get on with my life.

“I’d like to thank family and friends for their support and all the staff at North Bristol NHS Trust who have been there for me throughout this ordeal.”

A statement from Ann Remmers, clinical director for Women and Children’s Health at North Bristol NHS Trust, which runs Southmead Hospital, said: “North Bristol NHS Trust welcomes today’s verdict that concludes this very tragic case and completely exonerates our staff.

“This has been an incredibly difficult time for our staff, not least for Caroline Randall, the midwife.

“She, along with the other staff, has been fully supported by the Trust throughout this case.

“North Bristol NHS Trust would like to stress that Caroline is a highly regarded health professional, whose integrity and honesty were never in doubt.”