Pregnancy made up in revenge bid

A WOMAN stalked a man she met on Tinder by donning a prosthetic baby bump and faking a pregnancy for nine months as revenge for being dumped.

Jaclyn McGowan, 36, kept up the pretence for a full-term as she tried to dupe Jamie Aitken and his family into believing she was carrying his child.

At Perth Sheriff Court, McGowan’s solicitor said she had been angry about the way the one-night relationship had been abruptly ended.

The court was told how McGowan did discover she was pregnant days after her night with Mr Aitken but later miscarried. But she “carried on the pretence”, garnering pity from Mr Aitken’s parents and almost turning them against him.

McGowan was almost caught when she was spotted looking “slim and not visibly pregnant” at Ryze trampoline park in Dundee where Mr Aitken’s brother Corrie worked, when she should have been eight months pregnant at the time.

To try to cover her tracks, she purchased a prosthetic baby bump, called to ask the venue if it was suitable for pregnant women, and turned up looking “heavily pregnant” a few days later.

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said he considered the unusual offence to be at the lower end of what could be described as stalking and ordered her to carry out 150 hours unpaid work in the community.

Fiscal depute Tina Dickie said: “Jamie Aitken said the messages and whole situation were causing disruption to him and his family and he stated he felt like she was turning his family against him.

“The mother states she and her husband had spoken about the situation and they were concerned at first but began to feel excited at the prospect of having a grandchild and were embracing the whole situation. His mother soon realised the accused had an intense dislike for Jamie although she came across as quite nice and polite to her.”

Mrs Aitken told police: “She was so convincing I believed her that Jamie was not being supportive and ended up feeling very sorry for her and angry at Jamie.”

Mrs Dickie told the court McGowan and Mr Aitken spent a single drunken night in a hotel after meeting on Tinder and exchanging messages for a few weeks.

She said: “After this event the accused and Mr Aitken continued to message for several days. The accused asked Mr Aitken to meet up again. However, he declined.”

The fake pregnancy was eventually exposed after the due date of March 20 last year came and went with no birth.

McGowan was later interviewed by police and made a full confession.

“She did not give a reason for doing this other than that she wanted to hurt Jamie Aitken for how the relationship ended.”

McGowan, from Rattray, Blairgowrie, admitted that between June 1 2019 and February 29 last year, she engaged in a course of conduct which caused fear or alarm to a man and members of his family.

She admitted stalking Mr Aitken by pretending she was pregnant with his child. The court was told McGowan – who had worked abroad during part of the period – was likely to lose her job as a result of the conviction.