Woman jailed for faking twins pregnancy to partner

The woman's fake baby bump was discovered after the man insisted on a scan in hospital (archive image)

A woman who duped a man into believing they were having twins, until her fake baby bump was exposed in a hospital scan, has been jailed and given a restraining order.

Libby Vernon, 23, from Staffordshire, spun a web of lies over 13 months after she met the man online, a court heard.

She constructed a fake life about her job, home and relationship when she met him and later announced she was pregnant with him when she was not, even bursting balloons at a gender reveal party.

After the case went to court, the man, from Cumbria, said his family's lives have been torn apart and he had been left grieving babies that were never real but felt real to him.

Magistrates in Workington, Cumbria, heard how she met the man online and the pair spent hours chatting on a first night video call.

She told him she had been in a relationship with an abusive ex-partner and was now expecting his twins.

Prosecutor Pamela Fee said Vernon looked pregnant at the time.

Among her stories, the 23-year-old claimed she was a partner in a nursery business and owned her own home, with a mortgage - but none of it was true, Ms Fee said.

The pair began a long-distance relationship and planned a future where they would move in together and he would help raise the children.

During the next three months, Vernon told him she had lost one of the twins.

She claimed to have a rare condition of having two uteruses and provided a fake NHS-branded letter apparently confirming the miscarriage, the court heard.

She told him the other baby was healthy and the pair "grieved together," Ms Fee said.

Magistrates heard the woman faked two twin pregnancies (generic photograph)

Among Vernon's deceptions, she created a fake Facebook account and used it to send messages to the man apparently from her ex-partner – messages that were unpleasant about her and contained veiled threats.

When they met, she showed signs of being pregnant, struggling to walk at Manchester's Trafford Centre in the heat.

In November 2023 she sent the man fake baby photos and said: "Someone to meet you."

The court heard the fake baby was named Athena and given her new partner's surname but when he asked to meet the baby, he was rebuffed.

Later, the court was told Vernon pretended the baby had died of sudden infant death syndrome.

The man, who received a fake death certificate image, said: "I was devastated."

Second 'pregnancy'

The court heard their relationship continued, became sexual and Vernon told the man she was pregnant with him and was expecting twins.

She told him she asked at the scan for the babies' genders to be put in an envelope for a party on 16 April.

"Confetti-filled balloons were burst by the couple in front of the victim's family and revealed Vernon was carrying twin boys," Ms Fee said.

The pair named them Ollie and Tommy.

In June, amid concern over the twins' lack of heartbeats, the man met her at a hospital.

Despite Vernon's reluctance, he persuaded maternity staff to perform a scan.

At that point, it was found she was wearing a fake baby bump, Ms Fee said.

"Everything she had told him was lies," she added.

"There were no babies.

"Scan photos were false, letters were false and everything she told him about being pregnant and carrying his children was a lie."

The couple had ordered named baby blankets for the twin boys (generic image)

Magistrates heard the man had believed first that he would be a father to her baby girl and then to their twin boys.

The pair had ordered blankets with the boys' names on them and Vernon had a plaque made of "daddy's dream team" – including football shirts and their names: Tommy, Ollie and Athena.

Athena's shirt had "angel wings and a halo above it", Ms Fee said.

Speaking about the babies, the man said: "I know they were never real but they are to me. They felt it to me and it's like I lost them.

"None of it makes sense and I don't think I'll ever fully get my head around it."

'Genuine loss'

Vernon, of Moss Park Avenue, Werrington, Stoke-on-Trent, had previously pleaded guilty to 10 charges:

• Four counts of sending texts and one involving a photograph which conveyed false information

• One of sending a false death certificate

• Four of sending a false communication with intent to cause harm

In mitigation, Mike Woolaghan said the "obvious question is why" Vernon acted as she did.

"She struggled to understand the 'what' and 'why' of what she has done," he said.

The court heard Vernon had described being "young and scared", expressing remorse to a probation officer and apologising to the man and his family.

On Wednesday, magistrates jailed her for six months and imposed a two-year restraining order.

Lead magistrate Christine Williams said: "We find that this was a sophisticated, well-planned and intentional series of deceptions designed to manipulate your victim."

She said Vernon caused serious harm to the man and his family who were still grieving what to them was a "genuine loss".