Do you take this man…? We’ll have him! UK Border Agency officers swoop on ‘sham’ wedding and arrest groom in suit, bow tie and buttonhole
By Sam Webb
This is the dramatic moment a bow-tie wearing bridegroom was arrested by police as he was about to say ‘I do’ in a sham marriage.
The grey-suited man was about to marry his bride, dressed in white and carrying a bouquet of red blooms, when stab-vest wearing police and border officials stormed into the register office in Slough, Berkshire.
The officers from the UK Border Agency dramatically stopped the ceremony as the 40-year-old ‘groom’, from Pakistan, was set to marry a 33-year-old Polish woman, even though the couple could not speak the same language and needed translators to communicate with each other.
Still dressed in his suit, bow-tie and with a flower in his buttonhole, the groom was arrested for being in the UK illegally, having overstayed his visa.
The Border Agency was also tipped off that his relationship may not have been genuine
The operation was carried out with the full co-operation of the superintendent registrar who was to have overseen the marriage ceremony at the register office.
The blonde bride, wearing her white gown and clutching her bouquet for white roses, was questioned by officers before being released.
Her would-be husband has been detained and today faced deportation from the UK.
What about the honeymoon?: The 40-year-old man was arrested for being in the country illegally having overstayed his visa
‘We are working closely with registrars across the Thames Valley to clampdown on sham weddings and civil partnerships,’ said UK Border Agency assistant director Paul Smith.
‘Where there are suspicions that a relationship may not be genuine we will investigate and, if necessary, intervene to stop it happening.’
The Border Agency said that a sham marriage typically occurred when a non-European national married someone from the European Economic Area as a means of attempting to gain long-term residency and the right to work and claim benefits in the UK.
‘We take attempts to take part in sham marriages very seriously and work with the UK Border Agency to identify suspected sham weddings and ensure those concerned are dealt with appropriately,’ said a spokesman from Slough Borough Council.
This article was written by Sam Webb and originally published on dailymail
