Man reveals his hell as woman who stalked him and faked pregnancy is convicted 

A man has told of his nightmare after a one night stand led to nine months of torment, with his date faking a pregnancy by wearing a prosthetic bump.

Jaclyn McGowan, 36, met Jamie Aitken at a wedding and contacted him a few weeks later to say she was pregnant.

She named the ‘baby’, shared scan pictures, wore a prosthetic bump and even asked Mr Aitken for £300 to pay for a cot.

She is awaiting sentence after admitting in court on Friday that she engaged in a course of conduct which caused fear or alarm to Mr Aitken and members of his family.

Jaclyn McGowan (pictured) made victim Jamie Aitken’s life a ‘proper nightmare’ for nine months

Mr Aitken, from Perthshire, Scotland, said: ‘It was a proper nightmare. 

‘I only met the woman once. It was after a wedding, she had a hotel room. I don’t really remember it. Then a few weeks later she told me she was pregnant. I thought I was going to have a child.’

McGowan, also from Perthshire, told Mr Aitken she was having miscarriages and bombarded him with messages saying he could not be a part of the baby’s life, as well as sending him a picture of a cot and asking for him to pay for it.

Between June 2019 and February 2020, McGowan went into elaborate detail about the fake pregnancy. 

She also contacted Mr Aitken’s mother and brother and claimed the baby would be named Noah and would be born on March 28.

Perth Sheriff Court heard on Friday that McGowan had purchased a fake baby bump which she wore underneath her clothing.

She is thought to have used a baby scan from her sister’s pregnancy as part of the dupe while she also wore a fake bump to make people believe she was expecting

Mr Aitken believes his former lover used her own sister’s baby scan to dupe his family. 

He eventually went to police and described the behaviour as ‘gaslighting’.

Mr Aitken added: ‘She tried to turn my own family against me, including my own brother. She was gaslighting from all these different angles. She turned up at my brother’s work when she was meant to be about seven months with this baby bump – I couldn’t believe it.

‘It turned out, and I later got told, that her sister was actually pregnant at the same time and that’s where the scan photo came from. She needs to be stopped.

‘I want to protect other people from her. I hope she gets the medical help she needs.’

McGowan contacted her victim’s mother, Wendy Aitken, and sent her scan photos and details of fictitious pre-natal appointments to her. She said Mr Aitken could not attend pre-natal appointments with her – but said Mrs Aitken could see her ‘grandchild’.

McGowan also approached Mr Aitken’s brother, Corrie, at his work at a trampoline park in Dundee, claiming she was carrying the unborn child, but that he could ‘play a part in the boy’s life’. 

McGowan who was not present in court and has no previous convictions, admitted stalking, turning up at the trampoline park while ‘wearing a prosthetic baby bump’.

Her solicitor told the court: ‘She now enters a plea of guilty to the amended charge… this is a case which will require reports.’ He said his client had a number of issues.

Sheriff Neil Bowie called it an ‘unusual charge’ and added: ‘Sentence will have to be deferred for a criminal justice social work report.’ 

McGowan will be sentenced later this month.