Father’s brother takes DNA test to avoid child support

Mohammed Ryaz Khan, from Birmingham, got his brother to pretend to be him during a DNA test to avoid paying child support.

Mr Khan had been in a relationship with a woman, which resulted in them having a daughter in 2010. However, the relationship dissolved 6 years later and he began to pay £12.96 a week child maintenance.

In 2018, the defendant began to dispute he was the father of the child and a DNA test was arranged. But instead of Mr Khan going, he sent his brother Mohammed Ayaz Khan who gave staff a photo of his brother. He provided a mouth swab and signed documentation confirming the sample was true.

“Unsurprisingly the outcome of the test excluded Mohammed Ryaz Khan from being the girl’s father”, said Jamie Scott, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court.

His former partner disputed the findings and in November 2018 a speculative test on the national DNA database confirmed that the sample in fact belonged to Mohammed Ayaz Khan.

This exposed the fraud and proved that Mohammed Ryaz Khan was indeed the father.

Mr Scott said Mohammed Ryaz Khan had avoided paying around £1300.

“It was well thought out and quite brazen”, he said.

Mr Khan who admitted conspiracy to defraud, was jailed for 6 months. His brother who pleaded guilty to the same charge, was given a 12-month community order.

In passing sentence Judge Heidi Kubic QC said: “It was a mean spirited and spiteful offence which was calculated to cause upset and distress to your ex-partner and involved the rejection of your own daughter who had lived and trusted and relied on you for 6 years when you lived with her mother after her birth. Your actions in rejecting your own child are inexcusable.”

The judge said the defendants had continued to deny the charge even after the results of the test was revealed.

Justin Jarmola, for Mohammed Ryaz Khan, said he recognised what he had done was “awful” and he had gone back to paying child maintenance.

Legal DNA testing demands strict collection conditions

When AlphaBiolabs undertakes any legal DNA testing, the DNA sample must be collected by an approved sample collector, a nurse or another medical professional. The sample collector maintains chain of custody conditions to ensure validity of the test and to avoid any suspicion of fraud. This involves the collector taking a photo of the sample donor, inspecting identification, checking the signed consent forms and confirming the correct person has provided the sample. The samples can be collected from any location in the UK, whether a client’s home, at an office, prisons or at any of our nationwide Walk in Centres.

Under these strict collection conditions, there is no chance of the sample being interfered with and the results are therefore admissible in a UK court.

Details on AlphaBiolabs’ legal DNA testing services for legal professionals, businesses and members of the public, can be accessed on our website. Alternatively, if you have any queries or need further information, please call Customer Services on 0333 600 1300 or email info@alphabiolabs.com