Breastfeeding mum who made up story about Primark guard grabbing her baby facing jail
A MOTHER who made up a fanciful lie about a Primark security guard snatching her baby from her while she was breastfeeding has been warned she could be sent to jail.
She posted on Facebook that the guard took nine-month-old daughter Paige from her on July 13 at the cut-price chain's store in Humberstone Gate, Leicester.
The claims came at a time when the issue of breastfeeding in public was a topic of hot debate and the accusations attracted attention from national media outlets.
She wrote on Facebook: "My 9.5 month old daughter started crying, needing a feed and the queues were pretty long, so to save my daughter the upset, and the other customers too, I decided to find a quiet spot out the way of others and feed her discreetly.
"Within five minutes of doing so, I was approached by a security guard who asked me to vacate the premises to feed my daughter.
"I stood my ground and stated my rights, that I can legally feed where I want.. Just for the security officer to physically remove my daughter from my breast and walk down the store with her, saying if I wanted my daughter, then I was to come and get her."
She added: "My confidence is shot, and my poor daughter hasn't been herself all afternoon."
Caroline Starmer lied about the Primark incident
The young mother was told she could be facing jail
The court will consider a custodial sentence
However, her pack of lies quickly unravelled when bosses at Primark checked CCTV footage from the store.
It proved that no such chain of events had taken place, and Starmer was arrested and later charged by police with perverting the course of justice.
The young mother admitted the charge when she appeared before a judge at Leicester Crown Court today.
Judge Simon Hammond told her: "This is a very serious matter. The court will consider a custodial sentence."
Starmer said she was accosted in Leicester's branch of Primark
Starmer will be sentenced at Leicester Crown Court
In a statement issued at the time, Primark said: "The CCTV footage, reviewed by store management, shows the customer in the Leicester store quite clearly during the time in question. We can see no evidence that she was approached by anyone during this period.
"(The security guards on duty) categorically deny behaving in the way alleged. Furthermore the individuals do not fit the description given by the customer."
Starmer, of Marshall Street, Woodgate, Leicester, declined to comment outside court.
She will be sentenced on December 3.