A WOMAN who pretended she had a baby to claim nearly £15,000 benefits has been jailed for six months.

Fiona McMillan, 24, was issued a birth certificate for a non-existent girl called Bailey after claiming she had a home delivery.

McMillan, of Stewarton, Ayrshire, conned officials and claimed illicit tax credits for more than two years. She admitted presenting false documents and fraud from November 2009 to January 2012 and already had a record for dishonesty having committed the offence while awaiting sentence for a £3,400 benefit fraud.

Sandy Currie, defending, said McMillan had paid back nearly £3,000 of the benefits.