A woman named Kira Cousins, 22, pretended to give birth to a baby before receiving gifts worth hundreds, only for it to emerge her daughter was, in fact, a doll, leaving her family mortified.
Kira’s friend, Neave McRobert said suspicions arose when loved ones noticed the “baby” had not cried and that Kira refused to let anyone touch it, claiming the baby had been to hospital for recent check ups.
In a video statement filmed on October 16, Neave said: “I noticed Kira had deleted every picture and video of Bonnie-Leigh from our chats.
“I asked her why and she ignored me. I then asked the baby’s dad ‘Is this a doll?’, and he said, ‘Yes, it’s a doll’. She even went to the extreme of texting him saying, ‘Bonnie-Leigh di£d’.
“I can’t imagine how he must feel right now and everyone else who has been lied to for months and months. Everybody believed her. She had a gender reveal, she posted scan photos and even said the baby had a hole in its heart.
“Then she texted me saying the baby was born. We were all so happy.”
A friend of Kira’s family, who asked not to be named, also told the Record of her shock at the news but said she suspected the pregnancy was fake all along.
Describing Kira as a “serial liar”, she said: “I have known her for 10 years and she has lied about all sorts.
“She came into my house twice before this doll appeared and me and daughter noticed straight away that her bump wasn’t real. It was all lumpy. She was wearing very thin pyjamas and you could see the straps on her back holding it on.
“When she posted the picture of her supposed baby, I knew it looked like a doll but I would have been slaughtered if I had spoken out about all this and said I didn’t think any of it was real.
“People would have thought I was crazy.”