A 35-year-old woman allegedly donned a prosthetic baby bump to dupe a man’s family into believing she was pregnant with his child.
Jaclyn McGowan 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 1 June 2019 and 29 February 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 during the bizarre sequence of events.
She allegedly sent a picture of a cot to him and requested £300 from him to pay for it, and repeatedly advised him that 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 Wendy Aitken.
It is alleged that she told Mrs Aitken she was pregnant with her grandchild and sent scan photos and details of fictitious pregnancy-related appointments.
She purportedly said Mr Aitken would not attend appointments with her and would not support her during the pregnancy.
McGowan allegedly told Mrs Aitken family that the baby was due to be born on 28 March 2020 and was going to be a boy, who would be called Noah.
She allegedly pretended Mrs Aitken could play a part in bringing the boy up and told Corrie Aitken that she was carrying his brother’s unborn child.
The charge against her alleges that she told Corrie Aitken 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 on Friday that 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, which was granted by Sheriff Neil Bowie.
To better understand how our court reporting works, click here to view our online guide.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.