Court hears DNA test in paternity row proves man was not father of one-year-old baby
DNA tests in a long running paternity row, that involved the intervention of the Gardaí, have shown that the reputed father of a one-year-old girl is not the father after all,
At a Family Law Court in the mid-west yesterday, solicitor for the man said that the suspicions of his client have been proven correct with the DNA tests showing that his client is not the baby’s Dad.
The mother in the case had issued proceedings against her ex-partner seeking maintenance payments for the girl’s upbringing.
The woman had claimed that the man was the baby’s father and the man denied paternity resulting in him funding the DNA test following a direction from the court.
At a previous court hearing into the paternity row, Judge Patrick Durcan had directed that the Gardai investigate claims of forgery of paternity documentation in the row between the Clare mother and her former partner.
This followed the man in question's solicitor stating that the mother showed the man tests results from a previous home-kit DNA test taken in January showing that the chances of him being the father of the baby girl were 99.999999%.
Solicitor for the man said that it was his client’s view that this was a false document.
Solicitor for the woman said that it was her client’s view that no paternity test was carried out in January.
The solicitor said that woman claimed to have received from her ex-boyfriend a document which stated that the man was the father of the child.
The solicitor for the woman told the court previously: “My client said that she never did a paternity test and doesn’t understand where this document came from.”
The solicitor said that her client has an older child where the paternity was an issue and where the test was carried out by the same company.
As a result of Judge Durcan’s direction that the Gardai get involved, Garda Shane O’Connor met with the mother and her former partner and took statements from each party.
Garda O’Connor had also requested sight of the original DNA test ’results’ and it was his intention to send the documentation to a hand-writing expert at Garda HQ at the Phoenix Park.
Solicitor for the woman said that all applications, access, guardianship and maintenance could be struck out and Judge Durcan struck them out.
