Holy matrimony.
Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 9:11 pm
Vicar and fixer jailed over sham marriages in London
Brian Shipsides Shipsides was involved in 200 sham marriages in the church
A vicar has been jailed for four-and-a-half years for his role in about 200 sham marriages that took place in an east London church.
Brian Shipsides, 56, presided over the marriages in All Saints Church in Forest Gate between December 2007 and August 2010, the court heard.
He had admitted one count of conspiracy to facilitate unlawful immigration.
Amudalat Ladipo, 32, who acted as the "marriage fixer" was jailed for three years, convicted of the same charge.
Prosecutors told Inner London Crown Court the vicar, of Forest Gate, netted more than £30,000 for his "meticulously planned and carefully orchestrated" scheme.
Ladipo, a Nigerian mother-of-two, of Plaistow, was sentenced to a further 18 months for a second count of possessing a false identity document. Both sentences will run concurrently.
During two-and-a-half years, the number of marriages at the Forest Gate church rose from 15 ceremonies taking place in the previous two years to almost 250, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17601286
