A new mother has spoken of her horror at discovering that her loving boyfriend tried to abort their baby by slipping a pill into her food.

Helen Dean thought that partner Karim Habibi was pleased to hear that she was pregnant - he even 'twirled her around' in celebration when she told him the news.

But he secretly visited a GP's surgery and asked a nurse to give him an abortion pill - only for her to call the police when he admitted what it was for.

Trauma: Helen Dean, pictured with her baby son Amin, discovered her partner tried to abort the child

Crime: Karim Habibi has been given a suspended sentence after admitting trying to slip Ms Dean a pill

The 26-year-old cafe owner has now been given a suspended prison sentence and ordered to stay away from his ex-girlfriend and their baby son Amin for the next five years.

'I thought it was a loving relationship and that he wanted children,' said Ms Dean, 32, who was five weeks pregnant at the time of Habibi's arrest in June 2012. 'I was so outraged that he tried to kill our baby.

'We'd been together for three years and decided it was the right time.

'When I first told him he seemed so excited. He twirled me around and said: "You're going to have our baby."'

Rebuilding: Ms Dean is now focussed on bringing up her son as a single mother after her partner's arrest

In fact, however, Habibi was plotting to end the pregnancy and made an appointment at his local GP's surgery in Newport, South Wales.

There he told a practice nurse that he wanted a pill which would abort Ms Dean's baby - but she sent him away and called 999.

Police rushed to the pregnant woman's home to make sure Habibi had not already tried to poison her, which she had to undergo tests in hospital.

'The police ransacked my house searching for evidence to see if he'd already tried to harm our baby,' Ms Dean said. 'I was too devastated to believe what I was hearing.

'They took samples of my butter and milk. They tested food in my cupboards and all my medication.

'At hospital they took my blood and urine and kept me under observation for two days. I was terrified. And I had no one to turn to now that Karim was in custody.'

She was moved to a women's refuge, and in February this year she gave birth to Amin, who weighed in at 8lb at Cardiff's University Hospital of Wales.

Afghan-born Habibi initially insisted that the nurse had misunderstood his request, but in September he pleaded guilty to attempting to procure a poison to induce abortion at Newport Crown Court.

He was sentenced to 15 months in prison, suspended for two years, and given a five-year restraining order.

Healthy: The 32-year-old gave birth to Amin in February in Cardiff and both are now doing well

Sentence: Habibi was given a suspended prison sentence although he initially denied the crime

Recorder Gregory Bull QC told him his crime was 'outrageous', adding that to trick his own girlfriend into having an abortion was 'a terrible thing to do'.

Now Ms Dean has vowed to move on from the trauma as she continues to look after her young son.

'I have to look forward and rebuild a life for me and Amin,' she said. 'He is my world and reason to get up in the morning.

'Amin will be one in February and I can't wait to spoil him. I tell him every day how special he is.

'One day I will have to explain why he doesn't see his daddy like other little boys and that breaks my heart, but all that matters to me is that he is well.'