Dr Simon Heap and his wife Gladys Effa-Heap, a nurse, flew out to Nigeria and tried to dupe officials into believing a baby girl they wanted to bring back to the UK was theirs.
However, the Oxford pair were actually trying to illegally adopt the baby.
Dr Heap, a 47-year-old expert on Nigeria who works with companies trying to forge international trade links, and his 52-year-old partner claimed she had given birth just days after landing in the African country.The ruse included producing a birth certificate which suspicious British High Commission staff examined and found to be fake.
Officials requested DNA testing of the baby girl and the couple which proved she was not biologically theirs.
The pair then left the baby in Nigeria and flew back to the UK, sparking an investigation into the baby smuggling.
Today the couple were convicted of breaching immigration law and handed 12 month prison sentences, suspended for 12 months.
