June 2017

A woman has been jailed for Paternity DNA Test Fraud after fooling a former partner into believing he was the father of her child.

Danielle Morris, 29, who is from Merseyside, was sent to prison for a year for fraud by Liverpool Crown Court, after convincing ex-boyfriend Jamie Somers that he was the father of her baby daughter.

The court was told Morris initially informed Mr Somers that he was not the father of her baby, following their brief relationship, but a year later contacted him to contradict this information. When doing so, she claimed a DNA Paternity Test had revealed the man she originally thought was the girl’s dad was not in fact the father.

In order to establish his paternity, Mr Somers paid for a DNA test – but Morris faked the results.

Mr Somers not only paid maintenance for the child, but also had her stay with him weekly. He only discovered she was not his daughter after all when he contacted the DNA testing firm and they informed him they had not tested him in the first place.

A further paternity test showed Mr Somers was not the girl’s dad – news which, he said, left him devastated, depriving him of a child and his parents of a granddaughter.

Morris, who pleaded guilty to the charge of fraud, said she only committed the crime in order to provide a father figure for her daughter.

Read the full news story here.

The case has highlighted how easy it can be for someone to fake a DNA test to further their own aims. In the past, people have faked DNA test results to deceive not only partners and spouses but also the government – for instance, to make them eligible for certain benefits.

Cases have even arisen of people faking DNA test results so they can ‘prove’ a relationship with a deceased person for financial gain.

The number of DNA fraud cases is believed to be increasing because DNA tests are now widely available, thanks mostly to the internet, and are very simple to take, now only requiring mouth swabs, rather than a blood sample.

There are some very simple steps you can take. The first one is to make sure you use a reputable company to undertake your test. The laboratory should be fully accredited to ensure its results are trusted by the authorities and government departments.

A “peace of mind” DNA test relies on the honesty of the test participants and that they will provide samples from the correct contributors. If you are taking this type of test then it is best to take the samples together so you can see that they are being taken from the correct people, witness them being sealed in the envelopes and even go to the post office together to make sure they are not tampered with before being sent to the laboratory for testing.

A Legal DNA Test or Court Admissible DNA Test require that a chain of custody is maintained to ensure the test is carried out to accredited standards. An independent sample collector will take each participant’s samples, verify photo ID and endorse two passport-sized photographs of each person to confirm that is who samples have been taken from. The samples, documents and photographs are then sealed with a tamper-proof seal and returned to the laboratory for testing.

The second piece of advice is never to rely on another person to give you the results of a DNA test – always have one done yourself. If you do get the results from somebody else, make sure you check them out before acting on them. Do they look genuine? If you have any doubts then contact the company that carried out the test and ask them to confirm the result. Be prepared to prove identity to verify that you are the person who took part in the test as all reputable DNA companies will have strict Data Protection procedures in place to maintain confidentiality.

Any type of fraud is a serious business – but Paternity DNA Test Fraud can be avoided if you know what to do. Don’t get caught out and, if in doubt, double check that the results you are being shown are authentic.

We only work with fully accredited laboratories so we can provide DNA test results you can rely on. As long as you know the samples have been taken from the correct people then we can guarantee that our results are correct.

Please click here to view the list of Accreditations Held by Our Partner Laboratories.

Click here to read more about our Court Admissible DNA Test or feel free to contact our Customer Service Team for confidential advice.