Judge finds no evidence that woman’s alleged babies existed in deception case

A High Court judge in the United Kingdom has ruled that two children a woman claimed to have had with her former partner most likely did not exist, describing the case as an elaborate and sustained deception. The man, identified in the judgment as John, applied to the Family Court after being told the children had been sold for a combined £500. He told the court that he had paid the woman about £30,000 over two years after believing he was the father.

The woman, referred to as Jane, said during a February hearing that she had lied about the pregnancies for revenge, alleging that the man had abused her. The court heard that she had told him she was pregnant in late 2022, supplied an ultrasound image and appeared visibly pregnant. Shortly before the first baby was due, she called police alleging that the man had assaulted her.

He was arrested and held on remand for several months, according to Mrs Justice Judd’s ruling. Afterward, the woman told the man’s stepfather that the baby had been born and shared photographs. She also sent voice messages to the man’s mother in which a baby could be heard crying.

She later claimed to have become pregnant again, with the second baby due in August 2024, and subsequently told the man’s mother that the child had been born. Jane eventually accepted in court that she had told a series of lies and that there were no children. She said she was menopausal and could not have been pregnant.

The judge noted that bank statements showed she visited a tanning shop on the day she claimed to have given birth. Mrs Justice Judd said the evidence against the children’s existence was stronger than the evidence supporting it. She said the conduct had been cruel and affected the man, his mother and his closest friend, while noting that financial fraud and complex mental-health problems were possible factors in the woman’s behaviour.