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AIBU?

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Original poster

To just be appalled a pregnant woman has been jailed over this ?

153 replies

Sootyandsweep2019 · 18/09/2019 20:38

Yes, ammend the certificate to be factually accurate. But I am genuinely scared and appalled the CPS felt this was in the public interest to prosecute here. I mean, are they going to knock on the door of all Jeremy Kyle guests in a similar situation ? And there are many other cases where I'm just aghast a prosecution was thought to be in the public interest.

There are also women, who will protect a child by having someone else register as the father to keep a domestic abuser out if a child's life, I think we have a real, real authoratitive problem in this country as I could not trust any authorities that thought this was okay ( Daily mail story about mother jailed for naming the wrong man on birth certificate , trying to link but struggling on phone)

OP posts:
sashh · 19/09/2019 06:29

Thank you for the link - even though I have had to go to that rag.

OP

Why couldn't you start your post with what happened instead of leaving it to the last few words, you really don't sound sensible in the post.

We have laws.

We may not always like them but we have to obey them.

We don't know the details.

We give murderers life imprisonment, we don't give a short term to someone who has 'only' killed one person because the Yorkshire ripper killed a dozen and him less than Shipman who killed hundreds.

Heyboyo · 19/09/2019 06:31

She deserved it

Aridane · 19/09/2019 07:00

I am really surprised that mumsnet, which is meant to be feminist, approves this

It is not a feminist issue and purporting to make it such - when the man was also jailed - does feminism (and Mumsnet) a disservice

Aridane · 19/09/2019 07:03

My definition of feminist doesn't involve letting people get away with stuff just because they are women

I agree

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 19/09/2019 07:09

YANBU. Meanwhile in another court a paedo walks free, and another gets released after just 10 lousy years.Angry

Tilltheendoftheline · 19/09/2019 07:15

Why are people compating it to sexual abuse of children.

One case, where a different crime has been committed has no impact on this one

Dyrne · 19/09/2019 07:16

Meanwhile in another court a paedo walks free, and another gets released after just 10 lousy years

So... your solution to that is to not jail anybody else for anything? Just because one area of the judicial sentencing is crap, it doesn’t mean we should just let everyone else walk free!

Also, do people realise that if we didn’t jail women just because they were pregnant, there would be a rush of women getting pregnant before their court cases?

zsazsajuju · 19/09/2019 07:17

It’s a pretty awful thing to do, both to the child’s father and the child themself. It also seems she deliberately falsified an important public record out of spite. Almost of which would be taken into account when sentencing her together with her previous convictions.

SnuggyBuggy · 19/09/2019 07:20

It does sound like there are some inconsistencies with who is allowed to go on a birth certificate. If a heterosexual couple uses a sperm donor who goes on then?

Xenia · 19/09/2019 07:22

It is very important not to breach the law like this. We need to send a message that deliberate lying about something so fundamental (the poor child could have spent 18 years conned into thinking its father was someone else) cannot be messed around with. I hope the real father now has residence with the child now the mother is in jail where she belongs.

(And as to feminism it means equality - so just because you have got pregnant - presumably this time it is with the lying boyfriend she pretended it was with baby no. 1 - does not mean you avoid prison. If we didn't have that rule women would get pregnant whenever they had a trial coming up)

AmIThough · 19/09/2019 07:22

It's disgusting that a person who broke the law got charged for breaking the law Hmm

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 19/09/2019 07:23

I do think there is something seriously wrong and stinking with the justice system when we have examples that I have just given. This women isn’t a nuisance to society or a threat to children or anyone else for thAt matter. I will not apologise for my opinion. Well it’s not an opinion. It’s a fact!!!!!!

ralphfromlordoftheflies · 19/09/2019 07:23

I don't think that you understand feminism.

Sotiredofthislife · 19/09/2019 07:24

And in all likelihood, she probably got pregnant thinking it would help her avoid jail. I have know several cases where women have done this

Really? What kind of people are you mixing with that are happy to openly admit their pregnancy is a jail-avoidance tactic?

WhT you actually mean is, I think, ‘perhaps she got pregnant to avoid jail because that’s what her type do’ but we’re aware of how judgemental that sounds?

Anyway, these cases should be publicised to act as a deterrent. It’s not OK to deny a child their rightful father, no matter how awful he may be.

misspiggy19 · 19/09/2019 07:26

She deserved it. She did it out of spite.

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 19/09/2019 07:26

I can’t believe so many on here think this is okay. Yes she broke the law but She doesn’t deserve prison. (Me and mine are alright, Jack)

Aridane · 19/09/2019 07:29

This women isn’t a nuisance to society or a threat to children or anyone else for thAt matter

Fraud is always a threat to societal fabric

AuntieStella · 19/09/2019 07:32

I have all,sorts of views on sentencing policy, and whether penalties really do match the crime.

But I think it's vital that the penalities that are stipulated are used. You can't reduced someine's sentence because you disapprove of the tariff for an unrelated offence.

I do not think that pregnancy is a 'get out of jail free' card

Tilltheendoftheline · 19/09/2019 07:34

It does sound like there are some inconsistencies with who is allowed to go on a birth certificate. If a heterosexual couple uses a sperm donor who goes on then?

This isnt that situation. There are specific for that situation.

Really? What kind of people are you mixing with that are happy to openly admit their pregnancy is a jail-avoidance tactic?

Unfortunately I dont pick which kids go to my sons school. One mother has just come out of prison for the second time. For glassing someone. She has admitted it. And i uses to work with alot of people awaiting to trial. Many women ask the same question. Their mate told them they will get off if they are pregnant. Its very sad.

How does anyone know she isnt a nuisance? She is a nuisance, to her child and the childs father. Or don't they matter?

Dyrne · 19/09/2019 07:39

Awwlookatmybabyspider Do you know her personally then?

You seem to know much more than the Judge about her character, her motivation, whether she is a nuisance or a threat.

The news does not cover the ins and outs of the case. How are you so sure that there were no exacerbating factors leading to a longer sentence?

This woman was happy to deny her child knowing it’s real father. Even worse, she was happy for the child to grow up forming an attachment to one man thinking that he was their real father. Would she have ever come clean? What if there were genetic health risks to be concerned about? What if they met and fell in love with a child of their real father?

Children have a right to know who their real father is. In cases of surrogacy, adoption and sperm donation, the advice is always to be honest with the child from the start about their origin.

BogglesGoggles · 19/09/2019 07:46

Do you just not understand what fraud is?

SnuggyBuggy · 19/09/2019 07:47

I wonder if eventually we will move to adding paternity to the heel prick test. I agree lying about a child's genetic history is a dumb thing to do. You do hear of incidents following ancestry DNA results.

Dyrne · 19/09/2019 07:50

(Sorry, in cases of surrogacy, adoption, donation etc I just realised I shouldn’t have used the term “real” father, but instead biological father)

Topseyt · 19/09/2019 07:50

This was fraud. Pure and simple. Nothing whatsoever to do with feminism.

You are talking bollocks. Being pregnant and a mother is not a free pass to commit a crime like that.

LondonJax · 19/09/2019 07:56

I think you've got to leave the pregnancy part to one side initially. If she weren't pregnant do you think she deserves jail for her fraud. I do. So the pregnancy just gives a bit of wiggle room for sentencing if the judge is so minded.

As for the issue around the crime itself. As a huge tangent, let's assume an ex of your DP decides to cause problems for you and him. She becomes pregnant with someone else but puts your DP down on the birth certificate - getting another man to 'stand in' as your DP. If there's no law against it or the penalty is a slap on the wrist there's nothing to stop any woman doing this. And in some cases that can become issues around inheritance etc., Yes, it's a big leap, yes there are DNA tests etc but that's money I would guess you could ill afford. That's why it's against the law. She and her new man broke the law so they both got punished. The pregnancy is somewhat irrelevant.