A teenager who sent a bogus DNA sample to the Child Support Agency to deny he was a dad has been spared jail.
Security technician Thomas Clarke used a DNA testing kit handed to him by mistake at his GP’s surgery and asked an unnamed pal to provide the sample, Stafford Crown Court heard.
When the baby’s mother was told the results of the test, she became suspicious and the CSA began an investigation, said Devon Small, prosecuting.
The Rugeley doctor who had supposedly carried out the test was contacted and he told the agency he had not done it - he was away on holiday at the time.
been handed the DNA testing kit by mistake by the GP’s receptionist and he had asked someone else to provide the sample and fill in the details.The defendant refused to name the accomplice.
Clarke, now aged 20, of Foxley Meadows, Handsacre, who admitted a charge of fraud, was sentenced to six months detention, suspended for 18 months and ordered to do 150 hours unpaid community work and pay £750 costs.
Judge Simon Tonking told him: “This is a very unusual case because when you were literally handed an opportunity you took it in order to avoid responsibility for the parentage of a child.” Jonathan Challinor, defending, said Clarke, only just 17 at the time, had had a brief affair with an older woman who was in a long term relationship.
She was on the Pill, but was also taking medication which was contra-indicated
Initially, she told him the baby, who cannot be identified, was not his.
“She then changed her mind and said she didn’t want him to have anything to do with the baby. That was in the face of the defendant offering her support and to meet any financial responsibility.” Two years later, the mother made an application to the CSA and Clarke was sent a letter. He replied by denying being the father and was then asked to take a DNA test.
Mr Challinor said Clarke had committed the fraud because he felt he had been “hard done by” by the mother and because his father was not in good health and thought the stress might aggravate his condition.
“His actions were not motivated by financial considerations,” said Mr Challinor.
