Brit 'guessed' paternity tests

2004-09-24 16:19

London - A British businessman was jailed on Friday for making up the results of more than 100 paternity tests after his lucrative DNA analysis business became swamped with work.

In all, 118 people who paid £660 for a definitive scientific answer to paternity questions instead received a guess from Simon Mullane, the court was told.

The 39-year-old managing director of High Profile DNA was jailed for three years at Bournemouth Crown Court, southern England, after admitting charges of theft.

Clients who registered with the Internet-based firm were sent DIY swabs. As DNA testing not involving a child's mother is illegal in Britain, Mullane sent the swabs to Canada and America for analysis.

However, the court heard that the company became inundated with work and for 118 clients, rather than sending the swabs abroad, instead made up the results himself.

According to police, in every case the businessman told clients there was a chance they could be the father of the child, meaning he would be right at least some of the time.

"My sentence must reflect the consequences that have been brought about by these offences of theft," Judge Lester Boothman told Mullane as he jailed him.

- AFP