Man, 55, forced to pay £20,000 for a daughter he insists isn’t his
Furious ex-oil rig worker, 55, forced to pay £20,000 for a daughter he insists isn’t his slams the 13-year-old’s mother as a ‘money grabbing b****’ and says there is no reason why he should ever take a DNA test
- Ross Mclaughlan, 55, has insisted he has had no contact with the mother or child
- He has so far had £10,000 taken from wages for food, housing, clothes and toys
- Mr Mclaughlan, of Stockton-on-Tees, has also been told he owes £10,000 more
- He left his job on an oil rig in 2017 after becoming distracted and clumsy at work
A former oil rig worker forced to pay £20,000 for a 13-year-old daughter he insists is not his has today labelled the girl’s mother a ‘money grabbing b****’.
Ross Mclaughlan, 55, of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, has insisted he has had no contact with the mother or child – and should not need to take a DNA test.
He has so far had £10,000 taken from his wages for food, housing, shoes, clothes, toys and school equipment for the girl – and been told he owes another £10,000.
Ross Mclaughlan (left, last month, aged 55; and, right, aged 33), of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, has been forced to pay £20,000 for a 13-year-old daughter he insists is not his
But Mr Mclaughlan, who has never married, told the Sun Online today: ‘They’ve denied my rights, taken my wages, taken away my pension and I’ve lost my job.
‘It’s disgusting how they have done this. It’s only about their money and greed. I’m livid that these people can do this to another person.’
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He added: ‘The money-grabbing b**** just wants to disrespect the declaration of parentage, the birth certificate, so she can claim somebody else’s money.’
His nightmare began eight years ago when he received an official-looking letter saying he was financially responsible for a child who was biologically his.
But Mr Mclaughlan had no memory of the woman claiming to be the mother and was convicted he must have been targeted in a scam.
Mr Mclaughlan has so far had £10,000 taken from his wages for food, housing, shoes, clothes, toys and school equipment for the girl – and been told he owes another £10,000.
He called the Child Support Agency to say he had never heard of the mother or girl, and was told he would need to take a DNA test to disprove his parentage.
Mr Mclaughlan was told he would need to take a DNA test to disprove his parentage
Mr Mclaughlan refused to take the test and was convinced it was an infringement of his human rights. He was also worried that making a fuss could lose him his job.
The payments began at £100 a month, before increasing to £320 a month four years later – leaving him with a post-tax income of £900.
He sent in a copy of the girl’s birth certificate, which showed another man’s name – but officials said this was insufficient proof that he wasn’t the biological father.
Meanwhile his employers on an offshore rig noticed he was becoming distracted and clumsy at work, and he resigned by mutual agreement in early 2017.
When the girl turned 21 he was told he still owed £10,000 in retrospective payments but he is now refusing to pay any more money.
The Department of Work and Pensions oversees the Child Maintenance Service, which replaced the Child Support Agency in 2012.
A spokesman for the DWP said: ‘We notify people before making deductions, to ensure they have a chance to contest parentage.
Mr Mclaughlan (pictured aged 33) has faced a nightmare since he received an official-looking letter eight years ago saying he was financially responsible for a child who was biologically his
‘When parentage is disputed we look for conclusive proof such as a DNA test or a court declaration.
‘A birth certificate can be used as evidence, but would be discounted if there’s a suggestion that it’s unreliable.’
The Daily Mail spoke to the mother, who is insistent she became pregnant during ‘a brief affair’ with Mr Mclaughlan and gave birth to their daughter in June 1997.
She was married at the time and said she believed her husband was the father. The couple split when their daughter was a toddler.
She said years later her ex-husband, suspecting the girl was not his, requested a DNA test, which confirmed his suspicions – and the woman was then sure the father would be Mr Mclaughlan.
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