18/04/2016

PAPER MARRIAGE: Winchester Register Office sham wedding trio guilty



Three men have been convicted of planning a sham marriage to allow one of them to stay in the UK.




Devine Abanda, 27, from Cameroon, was arrested at Winchester's Register Office in February 2014 as he prepared to marry Olivia Godefroy.



Pacombe Djedje, 30, and Belgian Olivier Attee, 31, were also convicted of immigration law breaches after a trial at Winchester Crown Court.



The bride had previously admitted conspiring to marry Abanda for money.



French national Godefroy was due to be paid £2,000 to marry the groom, jurors were told.



She also admitted bigamy, having been already been married to two men.



Abanda, of Hillards Road, Uxbridge, west London, had tried to marry as his visa was due to expire, the court heard.



A number of documents were found in baggage belonging to the wedding party, including a "crib sheet" giving the bride essential details about her prospective husband, including his full name, address, job and the names of his parents.



The ceremony was interrupted by immigration officers before it could be completed.



Abanda, Djedje, and Attie had each denied one count of conspiracy to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law by a non-EU



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