A bungling reluctant dad tried to avoid child maintenance payments by getting his younger brother to stand in for a DNA paternity test.
Christian Robinson had no intention of helping his baby financially after being named as the father on the birth certificate.
The brazen 26-year-old challenged the mother’s child maintenance claim and requested a DNA test.
He then roped in his brother Samuel - who the mum had never met - to take the test so the results would show no match.
Are you signed up to our newsletter? You can sign up here to get the day's biggest stories straight to your inbox.
The plan backfired when the results showed the person who took the test was not the father - but was related to the child.
Investigators showed the mother a photo of the man who took the test and she said he looked like a “young version” of her ex-partner.
Police were called in March 2018 and arrested the pair, who admitted the attempted scam.
The brothers, from Shepshed, Leics, pleaded guilty to jointly committing fraud by false representation on Tuesday.
Leicester crown court was told Christian amassed £5,500 in child maintenance arrears. He is now paying his share.
It was revealed the mother could potentially have lost out on more than £60,000 if he had escaped liability.
Samuel is a lance corporal with a “promising army career” which now hangs in the balance.
Judge Timothy Spencer QC described the attempted scam as “deeply shameful” and “serious deceit”.
Christian was given a 15-month suspended jail sentence and his brother received a six-month conditional discharge.
