A Catholic bishop has welcomed the release from jail of a woman who killed her unborn baby in a late term abortion as an act of “mercy and compassion”.

Three judges of the Court of Appeal ordered the release of Carla Foster who was sentenced to 14 months’ in jail after lying to obtain abortion pills to kill her baby at eight months’ gestation – almost two months beyond the legal upper limit.

Auxiliary Bishop John Sherrington of Westminster, the lead bishop for life issues of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said he agreed with the decision of the appeals court in ordering Foster’s immediate release.