A COUPLE who attempted to enter into a sham marriage have been
imprisoned after a priest in Gloucester reported his suspicions over
the authenticity of their relationship to the police.
The Vicar of St James and All Saints and Christ Church in
Gloucester, Canon Robert Simpson, observed a lack of intimacy between
Mojeed Bello, a Nigerian, and Carina Merselina, a Dutch national, when
he visited them at the flat that they said was their home, in the city
centre, in February.
The flat had an appearance of student digs, and there was nothing
to reassure Canon Simpson that this was a genuine marriage, Gloucester
Crown Court heard.
The couple were arrested on 24 February, at the diocesan registrar’s office, when they went to collect the marriage licence.
The court heard that the couple said that they had met at the
Notting Hill Carnival, but that Mr Bello appeared to know nothing about
his fiancée except that she was “big, black, and liked smoking and
chicken burgers”.
The sham marriage was an attempt to stop Mr Bello’s being
deported from the UK.
The court heard that he had previously attempted
to marry an EU national in 2008, but had failed.
Mr Bello, 31, of Peckham, London, was sentenced to 14 months in prison, and Ms Merselina, 25, of no fixed address, to 300 days.
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