A woman who faked two pregnancies by wearing a silicone bump told her partner that the non-existent newborn twins had died, a heard.

Libby Vernon, 23, claimed to be pregnant by an "abusive ex-partner" when she entered into long distance relationship with a man she met online. After deciding she wanted to raise the baby with her new partner, she sent him a photo of a with the words "someone wants to meet you" in 2023.

But just four days after pretending she'd given birth, Vernon told her boyfriend the baby had stopped breathing and died after doctors attempted CPR. She even went as far as providing a death certificate, which showed the baby's cause of death to be Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), Workington heard.

Vernon, of Werrington, Stoke-on-Trent, then became intimate with the victim, of Cumbria, and she announced she was pregnant again - this time with twins. During the supposed , she told him she was in pain, sent him a photo of a blood clot, said she had a miscarriage, but then announced that she had been misdiagnosed and the pregnancy continued.

The long-distance couple even held a gender reveal party in Cumbria - with the victim’s family also under the impression that they were welcoming twin boys. Vernon then went to hospital and told the victim she was in pain and that medical staff told her the babies were no longer alive.

The victim then arrived at the hospital where he discovered that Vernon had not been on to the maternity ward at all - and was wearing a silicone baby bump, leaving him "significantly distressed", the court heard. Prosecutor Pamela Fee thanked the court for allowing more time to review the charges in what had been a "complex" case. She said: "It’s something that we don’t come across all that often. It’s taken an awful lot of work.”

Mike Woolaghan, defending, told the court that there were no guidelines in place for any of the offences Vernon had committed. He said: "There is a risk that matters cross the custody threshold. This lady has no convictions at all. It’s evident there is a lot more going on below the surface than appears. It’s right to say there are no formal diagnoses of mental health issues or something going on that needs to be explored.”

Vernon pleaded guilty to four charges of sending communication conveying false information and five charges of sending false communication with intent to cause harm. She also admitted one charge of sending a false certificate regarding registration of a birth or death and will be sentenced on March 19.

She was bailed with conditions not to enter Cumbria or to contact the victim by any means.