A white woman will be spending an ample time behind bars after being found guilty of engaging in a sham marriage with a Nigerian to cement his stay in Europe.
Emma Louise Evans
A woman has been jailed after admitting taking part in a sham marriage in East Lancashire.
Emma Louise Evans, 35, wept in the dock as Judge Jonathan Gibson jailed her for six months stating that her actions had ‘struck at the heart of the immigration system’.
Burnley Crown Court heard how the babysitter, of Hufling Lane, Burnley, had never denied taking part in the sham marriage to Nigerian Kazeem Kolade at Blackburn Register Office in July 2012. But Evans was able to convince prosecutors she did then not go on to bigamously marry a second man, Stephen Akinseye, who she remains married to, the following January.
Defence counsel Mark Stuart was able to produce a divorce certificate, after making inquiries with the Nigerian High Commission, to prove that the first ‘wedding’ had been annulled.
The former Accrington and Rossendale College and Fearns High student, who has also lived in Blackburn and Bacup, had denied bigamy, and also a third charge of taking part in a second sham marriage with Mr Akinseye at Burnley.
Prosecutors said the pleas were acceptable to the Crown, after legal discussions had taken place with Mr Stuart, and further consideration of the evidence in the case.
The court heard how Evans been introduced to Mr Kolade, who had first come into the UK on a student visa in 2010, via a man named ‘Patrick’ on Facebook.
In March 2011 they met at the Victoria Coach Station in London. On February 22, 2012 the defendant and Mr Kolade attended a notice of intention to marry interview, and they were married on July 2, 2012.
Prosecuting Neville Biddel said: “Just under two weeks later on July 15 Mr Kolade appealed to stay in the UK, relying on the fact he was married. It was under a sham marriage and the defendant has never tried to hide that.”
Mr Biddel said that in a prepared statement Evans claimed she felt she was being pressured into the marriage and didn’t want to go through with it, but he rejected that notion saying she had nearly two weeks to alert the authorities after the intention to marry interview but chose not to.
Mr Biddel said that according to the Home Office there were between 4,000 and 10,000 sham marriages in the UK each year. Defending, Mr Stuart said his ‘vulnerable’ client had been ‘targeted’ because she was naïve. He said Evans had never wanted to go through with the marriage and she had been pressured in to it.
Evans had never agreed to marry Mr Kolade for money, according to Mr Stuart, although Mr Kolade had promised to help Evans financially. But he had ‘lost interest’ when Evans made it clear she did not want a sexual relationship and stopped contacting her, the court was told.
Mr Stuart said his client has suffered difficulties with her mental health in recent months and had been referred to the mental health team by her GP. He said she had also had a long history with depression and low self esteem.
Mr Stuart said he believed Mr Kolade had ‘still not been caught up with’ by the authorities. Jailing Evans, who had no previous convictions, Judge Gibson said: “Offences of this kind strike at the heart of the immigration system and the message must go out to all those thinking of engaging in this kind of behaviour that the punishment will be severe.”
As well as the custodial sentence, which had been reduced because of an early guilty plea, Evans was also made subject to a 12-month supervision order and must pay a £20 victim surcharge.