Ex-Manchester police officer jailed after hiding marriage to prison inmate - who is serving life for murder

Stephanie Heaps - now known as Stephanie Ramsden - ended up in a relationship with Leon Ramsden while she worked at HMP Wymott in Leyland, Lancashire. Ramsden himself is serving a whole life sentence for murder.

She did not declare this relationship to the police as required, and an investigation by anti-corruption officers found her deceit fell even deeper. She was linked to her husband’s organised crime group, which is involved in money laundering and drug dealing.

Four months of investigative work found she would often visit Ramsden in prison using illicit mobile phones, shared sensitive police information with him and even refused to arrest a wanted domestic abuse suspect - as the suspect was one of Ramsden’s associates.

The former prison officer joined Greater Manchester Police in July 2019. When arrested in 2020, she gave a “no comment” interview and resigned from the police force a few weeks later.

Heaps pleaded guilty in October 2022 to misconduct in a public office as a police officer at GMP, misconduct in a public officer as a prison officer at HMP Wymott, intentionally encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence after conducting telephone conversations with Ramsden through illegal mobile phones, conspiracy to commit burglary after a burglary in St Helens and conspiracy to transfer, conceal and convert criminal property regarding the money laundering of Ramsden’s drugs money.

Detective Chief Inspector Jennifer Adams, of the 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 added: “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 accepts her guilt.

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

On Thursday, July 4, Heaps was sentenced at Bolton Crown Court to four years and three months in prison. Her husband was sentenced to five years and seven months, to run concurrently with his current sentence.