A COMMUNITY stalwart in Oxford and his wife tried to smuggle a baby from Nigeria, claiming it was their own.

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.

“That system is in place to protect children and we will do all we can to bring to justice those who try to get round it in this kind of way.”

A Home Office spokesman said the child had remained in Nigeria.

Oxford residents who knew the couple said they were shocked by the conviction.

Heap represented the Barton Community Association at the public inquiry into Oxford City Council’s plans to build 1,000 homes on land west of Barton last summer.

Former association member Debbie Santos, 50, from Taggs Lane, said: “It’s a huge shock. As far as I can see he’s a really nice man, I never heard a bad word said about him. I heard he had a daughter and thought it was his.”

Heap has a BA in history from Cambridge University, an MA in African studies from the University of London and a PhD in history from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. He also studied history at Oxford University.

He was also connected to a number of international organisations which support development work overseas.

He has previously worked as a researcher for child rights organisation Plan International, was a fellow at the University of Ibadan and is currently a senior researcher at the development agency Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Companies House said criminals would only lose a directorship if a judge specifically disqualifies them from the role or if they are made personally bankrupt.

According to Heap’s online LinkedIn profile, he worked as a senior researcher for Oxford-based Intrac (International NGO Training and Research Centre), between 1997 and 2003.

Executive director Brian Pratt said: “It was just a total surprise to us. We were told he had a child out there [in Nigeria] and they were having trouble getting the paperwork to bring her home.”

Plan International spokesman Stuart Coles said: “Plan has been informed of the news story regarding Mr Heap, and we are obviously concerned to hear the disturbing nature of what is reported – which is entirely contrary to Plan’s ethos as a child rights organisation.”