My evil ex FAKED a DNA test to try to win sole custody of our daughter – it could happen to anyone
A DAD has told how his twisted ex tried to fob him off with a fake DNA test in a shocking attempt to claim their daughter wasn’t his.
Michael Brown, 45, said ex partner Laura Jackson emailed him the false results nine months after their three-year-old daughter was born.
They appeared to come from a professional genetics company, along with a message sent by Ms Jackson - previously Ms French - which read: “Michael you have no rights over her.
“It’s been proven you are not her father.”
The report, which has since been proven false, gave a 99.9996 per cent rate of probability that another man, ‘Callum Jack’ was the father of Michael’s child.
But Michael, of Basingstoke, Hants, had never heard of him - and having already faced a gruelling legal battle for joint custody of his daughter, he sensed something wasn't right.
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“I didn’t believe it,” he told the Sun Online.
“There was a tiny chance it was true but I just thought, I'm going to have to fight this now.
“I thought, I’ve got to tell my children they might not have a little sister any more.”
He added: “My heart sank - I knew from that moment on I was not going to be able to see my daughter."
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The supposed DNA report appeared to be signed off by three PhD professors and made no reference to Michael on the form.
And the dad-of-six, who had been in a “turbulent” on-off relationship with Ms Jackson, 31, for around two years, had no reason to believe his ex had ever had a relationship with the other man listed.
He explained: “I did a bit of further research and found it was simply a DNA report that you can order online.
“You just tell them ‘I want these names on there’ and then you get a report an hour later.
“It’s abhorrent really. I was shocked that she would do that.”
After Michael made the shocking discovery, he raised the matter in the family court.
He was then made to take a court-approved DNA test.
After sending off his swabs and anxiously awaiting the results, Michael was found 99.999 per cent likely to be his daughter’s paternal father.
Ms Jackson pleaded guilty to two counts of committing an act or series of acts with intent to pervert the course of public justice - namely giving a false account in a police interview and giving a false account under oath.
The mum-of-three was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court to 12 months in prison in February this year - three years after she gave Michael the fake results.
'EMOTION & HEARTACHE'
“It was a relief,” Michael said.
“My wife had just found out she was pregnant with twins when we were presented with this fake report.
“The cost was in time, emotion and heartache.”
The remarried dad is now living with his “happy and healthy” daughter at home, who is readjusting to life without her mum.
But Michael is terrified that others in his position could be sent similar false results - and not realise they have been duped.
“I was shocked when the penny dropped that you could actually just buy a fake report and type in the details of names and results you want,” he said.
“I just thought this is so easy for people to do. It looks convincing. I thought oh my God, there could be loads of them out there.
“There could be a lot of people who are affected and don’t know.”
A spokesperson for Hampshire Police said: “We investigated an allegation of perverting the course of justice following a report made in August 2019.
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“A 30-year-old woman attended a voluntary police interview in April 2021.
“Laura Jackson, 30, was later charged with two counts of committing an act or series of acts with intent to pervert the course of public justice.”
Have you been given a questionable DNA result?
If you have been sent a DNA result you think might not be accurate you are entitled to question the results.
If you are using the results as evidence in court, you must use an accredited testing laboratory. If you do not, the results will not be accepted.
If you suspect any illegal activity, you can also contact police on their non-emergency number 101.
The government accredited testing laboratories are:
- (AlphaBiolabs)
- (Orchid Cellmark Ltd)
- (Dadcheck)
- (DNA Legal)
- (Paternity for Life)
- (Anglia DNA Services)
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