Woman lied about abortion and gave man's baby to gay friend

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-32757498

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A mother has been found guilty of duping her former partner into thinking she had an abortion in order to give his child to her gay friend.

A jury at Perth Sheriff Court found the woman and her male friend guilty of an elaborate fraud.

The court heard the pair hatched a "cynical and calculated" plot to cover up who the child's real father was.

The woman, aged 29, and her 35-year-old male friend were warned they could face up to five years in prison.

Sheriff William Wood described the offence as "very serious" and paid tribute to the child's father for his efforts to obtain justice for himself and his daughter.

DNA tests

During a six-day trial, the father told the court he had "mourned" for the child after being falsely told by his former partner that she had undergone a termination to get rid of their baby.

The 29-year-old woman claimed she had sex with her homosexual friend and thought the baby was his.

But the jury did not believe this version of events and found them both guilty of carrying out a fraud against the father for nearly three years.

The court heard the child's mother and her friend had signed the birth certificate and claimed to be the child's natural parents, but DNA tests later proved the other man was the child's real father.

The biological father told the trial he had been "over the moon" when he discovered the woman - whom he had a three month relationship with - had fallen pregnant with his child.

He said: "I love having children. She got more and more reluctant about having the child near the end of our relationship. She split up with me and told me she was going to have an abortion."

The court heard the 35-year-old gay man wanted a child of his own and claimed the baby girl had been given to him by a lesbian lawyer called Clare Green, acting as a surrogate.

'Highly unusual'

However, the jury was told her character had been dreamed up by the two accused, who set up a fake Facebook account in her name.

The court heard the con came to light when the father was told the baby looked very like him.

He took the case to police, but was turned away and told it was a civil matter. It was only after writing to lodge a formal complaint with police that the case was opened as a criminal investigation.

The father revealed that he had also written to the Lord Advocate seeking a prosecution and had involved his local MSP John Swinney in the case.

The woman and her friend had bail continued and sentence was deferred until next month.

The father has now married and taken custody of his daughter.

Sheriff Wood told him: "I can't fail to be impressed by the vigour and stamina that has been required of you to get matters this far; the complaints you've made and the letters you have had to write to get people to take this seriously as a criminal complaint.

"I cannot sentence today, but I do hope my remarks will in some way help you as you move forward with your daughter and your wife. It is a highly strange and unusual case."

Outside court, the child's father said: "I am over the moon. I have finally got justice for my little girl. I don't think any sentence is high enough to justify what they have done to her."