A former Jet2 worker and her partner have become the first two people in Britain to be convicted of running a "black market" baby scan clinic during the Covid pandemic.
Teri Horton, 30, and the father of her two children, David Jones, 35, targeted expectant mothers and charged the parents-to-be up to £30 a time for scan pictures, after they set up an unregulated operation whilst NHS maternity clinics were affected by Covid restrictions.
Despite being twice refused permission to set up their Precious Glimpse 2 centre, the couple brazenly operated their backstreet business in plain sight on a shopping parade in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.
Shockingly, they even openly advertised their products on social media.
And following a string of complaints, the Care Quality Commission began investigating the business.
It emerged that the couple had hired ultra sound equipment, despite having no experience in healthcare, whilst the premises they operated in had inadequate Covid safety measures in place - putting mothers-to-be and others at "horrendous risk".
However, those who used the services were not harmed.
At Warrington magistrates court, Horton, who currently works as a receptionist, and Jones, who works as a flooring company tradesman, were landed with a legal bill of almost £6,000 after they pleaded guilty to charges under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
The CQC went on to add that this is the first case of its kind, before shutting down their operation.
Michelle Brown, prosecuting for the CQC, said: "The use of ultrasound equipment to provide souvenir and trophy scans to expectant mothers and fathers is a regulated activity and requires registration with the commission.
"Failure to do so strikes at the heart of the way the commission protects the health and welfare of the people using the services. It places the service users at personal risk if important safeguards and safety requirements are not met and overseen by the commission."
The court heard Precious Glimpse 2 was refused registration due to inadequate Covid safety policies and measures for dealing with other infections, but defendants pressed ahead with their business before a decision was made, with Miss Brown adding: "They understood they should have been regulated - but they did not wait, despite warnings."
Concerns were also raised regarding how the couple would have escalated concerns should have there been any anomalous scans, given that Horton's previous experience had been in sales and travel.
Inquiries went on to reveal that the couple had signed up for a 12-month contract to hire the ultrasound equipment for £900 a month from July 21, and they had also taken out a rental agreement for the baby scan premises for £550 a month from May.
Their business was charging people between £25 to £30 each for a scan, with an option to upgrade to 4D.
But in mitigation for the pair, their defence lawyer, Damien Wall, said that they had been "well meaning but naive," adding that the offending period was August 31 to November 7 and that in total they had performed 12 scans.
Mr Wall said: "It was a relatively short period of offending.
"A period during which we were still fairly heavily confined by the pandemic. "The defendants decided to set up the business with legitimate intentions.
"These are two hard-working people who started this enterprise hoping to provide a service to the local community. Unfortunately, rather naively, you may think, they did not really have the wherewithal to carry out that they hope to do."
He added that: ""There were obviously some complaints but the defendants do not accept that they were genuine complaints. They do not believe there were specific individuals who received bad treatment or who had received bad service.
"The scans which had been done were for a number of individuals who were personally known to the defendants. They were paid for in cash. The amount of money received was relatively small all over a relatively small period of time."
The couple's defence lawyer continued to say: "It seemed like a good idea at the time but they now realise that this was something beyond their capacity. They are two hard working people who have worked most of their lives while bringing up children. This was an exercise of trying to develop themselves and provide a service in the area.
"This was not a surreptitious backstreet type of activity.
"They were intending to seek registration and a licence."
Horton was fined £320 and Jones £1,160 and were ordered to pay a total of £4,158 in costs and surcharges.
Sentencing Judge Jack McGarva told them: "This was a very naive adventure that you went on and the consequences could have been very serious. You were providing ultrasound scans of babies which are very important to parents, providing great entertainment and assisting the baby's development but they are not without risks.
"The lack of an adequate Covid infection policy put women at risk. The consequences of dealing with a pregnant woman with Covid could have been horrendous. Perhaps we've all forgotten how bad that Covid was at the time. A lot of people were dying with Covid at that time.
"But if a pregnant woman got Covid, the consequences could have been horrific."
