Former prison officer who married convicted murderer ends up in jail herself

A former prison officer who hid her love affair with a convicted murderer has been jailed after detectives uncovered her relationship and bizarre AI wedding pictures.

Stephanie Heaps, now known as Stephanie Ramsden, did not declare that she was in an intimate relationship with Leon ‘Layton’ Ramsden, 35 – who is currently on a life sentence for murder – while she worked at HMP Wymott in Leyland.

She then joined Greater Manchester Police as a police constable in Bolton where she again did not declare any links to criminals.

But a Lancashire Police investigation found her links to an organised crime group – associated with Ramsden – which was involved in money laundering, drug dealing, and a conspiracy to burgle an address in St Helens in November 2019.

The pair married after she left Greater Manchester Police. A bizarre AI-generated image of the pair tying the knot was posted on social media.

Detective chief inspector Jennifer Adams, of our Anti-Corruption Unit, said: “During our investigation, we were shocked by the actions of Stephanie Heaps and her brazen disregard for the standards required for both her roles in the police and the prison service.

“As soon as we were made aware of Heaps’ potential relationship with Ramsden, we conducted a number of detailed enquiries to ensure that the maximum amount of evidence about her offending could be collated so she could be held accountable for the full extent of her crimes.

“It’s clear Heaps should never be trusted to serve the public, and it is testament to the investigation team that she was only in uniform for a matter of months before she was taken away from frontline duties for good and now put rightly behind bars along with Ramsden and his associates.”

Alan Richardson, senior crown prosecutor for CPS North West, said: “Stephanie Heaps was in a position of trust both as a prison officer and later a police officer.

“She knew that her actions created a serious conflict of interest and entirely compromised the trusted positions she held.

“The CPS worked hard with Greater Manchester Police to build a strong case. The strength of the evidence was such that Heaps had no option but accept her guilt.

“Heaps will now face the consequences of her actions.”

She was sentenced to four years and three months at Bolton Crown Court on Thursday after she admitted several offences, including misconduct in public office and intentionally encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence.

Ramsden, of HMP Berwyn, was sentenced to five years and seven months, to run concurrently with his murder sentence.