Oxford couple tried to smuggle baby into UK from Nigeria

Was it an act of Goodwill i wonder ? A COMMUNITY stalwart in Oxford and his wife tried to smuggle a baby from Nigeria, claiming it was their own.

Dr Simon Heap

Simon Heap, 47, and his wife Gladys Effa-Heap, 52, from Barton, were caught after DNA tests confirmed neither of them was related to the Nigerian baby girl.

This week they avoided jail after pleading guilty to facilitating a breach of the immigration law.

They were both given 12-month suspended prison sentences and 250 hours’ community service at a hearing at Isleworth Crown Court in London.

Heap, of Waynflete Road, was a published researcher and has been director of Barton Community Association since 2004.

The academic and his wife flew out to Nigeria in July 2010. During a visit to the British High Commission in Lagos, they tried to register a baby for a British passport in Nigeria so they could bring her back to the UK.

They claimed Mrs Effa-Heap had given birth to her within days of their arrival in the country.

But officials became suspicious and DNA tests on the girl followed. The couple also had a fraudulent birth certificate for her.

They were arrested following a joint investigation by Border Force and the Metropolitan Police.

Speaking after the hearing, Detective Inspector Kate Bridger, who leads the specialist team, said: “A child should not be treated as a commodity to be bought and sold. “This couple attempted to circumvent the adoption system and deceive the authorities.

From OMail.