The number of women in Stoke who "plead the belly" is on the rise according to official figures.
Pleading the belly is when a woman claims pregnancy at a criminal trial, meaning that she can't be prosecuted. The legal loophole was discovered by a cleaner at the house of one of Stoke's Council of Elders, who subsequently went on a crime rampage when she discovered that she herself was pregnant.
The law was originally introduced in pirate times when a popular band of female pirates who operated a frigate on the River Trent were eventually captured. To calm public anger after they were put to death and it was discovered that the women were pregnant, the law was created by the Council of Elders of the time, but it has never been repealed in Stoke.
While the legal department at City Hall work on changing the law, pregnant women are effectively immune from prosecution in Stoke.
"If pregnant women have any criminal cravings, now is the time to satisfy them," says city councillor Jinky Watkins. "For the benefit of them and their babies."
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