Children’s nurse faked having her ex-partner’s baby in lockdown by sending him snap of her ‘baby bump’, bogus scans and even pictures of someone else’s baby in intensive care

A pediatric nurse lied that she was pregnant after giving birth to her ex-partner’s child during lockdown. She sent him pictures of her baby bump, fake baby scans and eventually pictures of someone else’s baby at the hospital

Alexandra Gregory, 25, who sent numerous fake pregnancy scans to her ex-partner, was given a suspended sentence for the “long-term campaign” of deception against her ex-boyfriend.

The pediatric cancer nurse pleaded guilty to sending malicious communications to Daniel Smith between August 2020 and February 2021 at Worcester District Court on Thursday.

Crown prosecutor Kevin Lloyd-Wright said Gregory had waged a “planned, sustained and ruthless” campaign against Mr Smith.

It was determined that the couple had a brief relationship that lasted from February to July 2020.

The pediatric nurse “fully accepted” that she had lied about having Mr Smith’s baby and that there was “no sensible explanation for what she did”.

Gregory’s defense team claimed she had indeed become pregnant, but the court was told she had once suffered a miscarriage before she started sending messages to Mr Smith in October.

Her lawyer said Gregory had become distressed by the situation and her work as a pediatric nurse during the lockdown BBC reports.

It was discovered that she had sent photos of herself in a nurse’s uniform showing a pregnancy bump.

The barrister added that the 25-year-old ‘fully accepted’ that she had lied about having Mr Smith’s baby and that there was ‘no sensible explanation for what she did’.

Despite this, a month later her ex-partner received another photo from Gregory, this time of a positive pregnancy test, followed by a photo of herself with a small bump.

The couple subsequently met and mutually agreed to have an abortion, but she texted him three months later saying she had changed her mind and planned to keep the baby.

She later continued to send her former partner a host of messages, including more fake baby scans and photos of her in her Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital nursing uniform with a pregnancy bump.

The nurse even brought teddy bears to Mr. Smith’s house and asked him to sleep with them so she could give them to the child and they would “know his smell.”

One day in January 2021, the court heard, she sent more than 300 messages to Mr Smith.

Later that January, Gregory told her ex-boyfriend that she had given birth to a girl named Aria.

However, she claimed Aria was ‘born blue’ before sending him pictures of a baby in hospital, adding: ‘Our daughter is in intensive care.’

The crime took place throughout the Covid pandemic, with Gregory often reminding Mr Smith not to leave the house as it would endanger their baby.

Gregory even went so far as to draw up lists of items he needed to buy for the newborn, as well as money for child support.

The court was told that Mr Smith had questioned the legitimacy of the scans and at one point requested a DNA test, but felt too guilty to confront her.

Eventually, Mr Smith’s mother became suspicious of his ex-partner’s behavior towards her son and reported the matter to the police.

The court heard the truth finally came out a month later when Gregory’s father told Mr Smith’s aunt there was no baby.

Gregory pleaded guilty to sending malicious communications to Daniel Smith between August 2020 and February 2021 at Worcester District Court on Thursday (pictured)

Officers from West Mercia Police then attended her speech to investigate these concerns. At that moment, Gregory admitted that the baby did not exist.

PC Rosanna Stone, the investigating officer, said: ‘I have been speaking to the victim for almost three years now and in my opinion his life has been seriously and permanently emotionally damaged by Gregory’s actions.

‘She has since had a child with another partner but made no comment in interviews.’

Tom Wickstead told the court the experience had left Mr Smith feeling ‘like a shadow of himself’, while the judge later acknowledged he had suffered ‘persistent anxiety’ from the incident.

Gregory was sentenced to a prison term of four months, of which eighteen months were suspended, as well as a mental health treatment plan of twelve months and twenty days of community service.

The nurse was also ordered to pay £500 in compensation to Mr Smith and was given a three-year restraining order against him and his mother.

A spokesperson for Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust said Gregory had been suspended pending the police investigation and that the company would now ‘complete its own internal investigation’.