A wedding planner who sent herself threatening letters and made false statements to the police in an attempt to accuse her ex-husband of stalking has been sentenced to two years in prison.
Lincoln County Court heard that Emma Heys acted with “malice” and made so many false allegations against her ex-partner Christopher Heys that police codenamed the investigation, “Operation Franklin.”
The 42-year-old also made false statements in a district court in an attempt to obtain a non-assault warrant against Mr Heys, claiming to have been a repeated victim of domestic violence.
Neil Sands, prosecutor, said Heys knew any violation of that order would lead to the arrest of her former husband.
The court heard that Mr Heys met his future wife in Manchester in 2006 and later moved to Lincoln in 2013 where Heys ran a wedding planning business.
Mr Heys described their relationship as ‘fleeting’ and left his wife on Boxing Day 2018, the court heard.
Emma Heys acted with ‘malice’ and made so many false allegations against her ex-partner Christopher Heys that police codenamed the investigation – ‘Operation Franklin’
Mr Sands said that in February 2019, Heys contacted a lawyer and applied to Lincoln County Court for a non-molestation order against her former husband, alleging she was the victim.
She claimed that she was given a bunch of skullcap flowers on Valentine’s Day in 2019, that she was stalked by Mr Heys at her stall at the Lincoln Christmas Market and that she received a number of threatening and abusive letters.
Mr Heys, who is disabled, was arrested three times between February and March 2019 for alleged breaches of the warrant, including once when he was transported from his address in Wigan, Greater Manchester, to Lincoln in the back of a caged police van.
After being arrested for a third time, he asked for checks on ANPR traffic cameras, bank records and with friends to prove he had not traveled to Lincoln on the days his ex-wife was making allegations.
In all, Heys made 15 false statements to the police.
Mr Sands told the court: ‘Everything he put forward turned out to be correct.
“The main victim in this case, Christopher Heys, had his name tarnished and his life was in turmoil and turned upside down for months.”
The 42-year-old made false statements in a district court in an attempt to obtain a non-sexual assault order against Mr Heys, claiming to have been a repeated victim of domestic violence
In a victim impact statement, Mr Heys said one of the arrests took place at his daughter’s home, involving five police officers.
Mr Sands added that Mr Heys ‘knew he hadn’t done anything wrong’, saying he suffered from mobility issues which made the two hour journey in a police van from Wigan to Lincoln extremely uncomfortable.
Siward James-Moore, mitigating, said a psychological report prepared for the case showed clear evidence of a woman struggling with depression.
He argued that the relationship was also “tortuous.”
“It wasn’t a plan devised to get a loving husband, the love of her life.” said Mr. Siward-Moore. “This was not a good relationship.”
Heys, of Lincoln, pleaded guilty to three charges of acts intended to pervert the course of justice between January and July 2019. She received a 28-month prison sentence and had no previous convictions.
In delivering the verdict, recorder Eugene Egan told Heys that the impact on her ex-husband was significant, and that both police resources and victims of domestic violence will have been affected by her actions.
“You deliberately lied to obtain a non-molestation warrant, prove violations of that warrant, and secure an extension of a non-molestation warrant,” the judge told her.
“The person whose life was traumatized by your lies was your ex-husband.”
The judge also told Heys that it was within her gift to end the “miserable existence” inflicted on the ex-husband, but “you just went on and on.”
The Recorder concluded she was motivated by “maliciousness” towards her ex-husband, saying he completely rejected her being a victim of domestic violence.