A woman allegedly donned a prosthetic baby bump to dupe a man’s family into believing she was pregnant with his child.
Jaclyn McGowan, 35, is alleged to have kept up the deception for nine months and given the hoax baby a name and expected due date.
It is alleged that between June 1 2019 and February 29 this year, she engaged in a course of conduct which caused fear or alarm to a man and members of his family.
McGowan, of Craighall Place, Rattray, has been accused of pretending to Jamie Aitken that she was pregnant with his child.
She allegedly sent a picture of a cot to him and requested £300 from him to pay for it and repeatedly advised him she was having miscarriages.
She allegedly sent him repeated abusive messages to say he would play no part in her baby’s life and then contacted his mother.
It is alleged that she told the woman she was pregnant with her grandchild and sent scan photos and details of fictitious pregnancy-related appointments.
She purportedly said the man would not attend appointments with her and would not support her during the pregnancy.
McGowan allegedly told the man’s family the baby was due to be born on March 28 2020 and was going to be a boy, who would be called Noah.
She allegedly pretended the man’s mother could play a part in bringing the boy up and told his brother that she was carrying his the man’s unborn child.
The charge against her alleges she told the brother he could “play a part in the boy’s life” and turned up at his work at Ryze Trampoline Park in Dundee “whilst wearing a prosthetic baby bump.”
Solicitor Mike Tavendale told Perth Sheriff Court yesterday McGowan had been unable to appear because she had been taken into hospital overnight.
He said he expected her to be discharged today and asked for the case to be continued without plea until early next year, a request granted by Sheriff Neil Bowie.
