Nigerian Nurse Who Tried To Smuggle Baby Into Britain Is Struck Off

                                      
A nurse who 'wove a web of lies' in her attempt to smuggle a Nigerian baby into the UK has been stuck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Gladys Effa-Heap and her academic husband Dr Simon Heap, from Oxfordshire, had pretended the nurse gave birth unexpectedly during a holiday to Nigeria, just days after they arrived. DNA tests were conducted after authorities became suspicious of the child's parentage, which proved that it was not biologically related to the couple.
Effa-Heap was convicted last year of breaking immigration laws at Isleworth Crown Court last year, where she lied by saying she had already been stuck off the nursing registry in an attempt to reduce her sentence, a court heard.  Prior to travelling to Nigeria, Effa-Heap had been signed off work due to back pain. She and her husband later travelled to Nigeria, where they claimed that Effa-Heap had unexpectedly given birth, despite no evidence of pregnancy being reported by doctor's examinations prior to her trip. They then attempted to apply for a British passport for the child at at the British High Commission at Lagos in Nigeria, using counterfeit documents, such as a birth notice stating Baby O was born on the 6 July at the Immanuel Infirmary, and a birth certificate stating Baby O was born in Calabar on the 7 July. Authorities grew suspicious and a DNA test was undertaken, revealing that the child was not related to Effa-Heap, or her husband, in any way. She was given a 12 month suspended sentence and ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work. Jessica Holmes, for the NMC, said: 'In July 2010 the registrant was on annual leave from her registered role as compliance manager. ‘She left the jurisdiction and travelled to Nigeria, where on her own account she unexpectedly gave birth to a female child on the 6 July. Thereafter she attempted to obtain a UK passport for the child in order to bring the child to the UK.
‘Further enquiries were made and it was discovered that the child was not biologically related to either her or her husband. ‘Her explanation to the Crown court was that she had entered into this because her and her husband wanted a child after 20 years of trying to conceive.  ‘Through her representative, the registrant informs the Crown Court judge that she has been struck off the register by the NMC and that she will never work as a nurse again. DM.