Scottish woman admits faked pregnancy after doll deception

A 23-year-old Scottish woman who deceived her partner and family into believing she was pregnant and then presented a plastic doll as her newborn baby has publicly explained her actions for the first time. Kira Cousins, from Airdrie, said she felt unable to tell her then-boyfriend, Jamie Gardner, that she had suffered a miscarriage, leading to an elaborate months-long charade that unraveled last October.

In her first interview, Cousins acknowledged her actions were wrong but said she was trapped by fear and the dynamics of her relationship. She stated she had tried to tell Gardner about the miscarriage early on but could not bring herself to do it. She said she still has messages on her phone that read, "Jamie, we need to sit down," but she could not speak to him about anything. "I can hold my hands up and say, 'No, I shouldn't have used a doll,' but at the same time, nobody knows what our relationship was like," she said.

Gardner, who believed he had become a father to a daughter named BonnieLeigh Joyce, said he would not have remained in the relationship had he known the truth. "If I had ever known that was really a doll, I'd have run off sooner. I've not got a clue what...