NRI jailed for plotting sham marriage in UK

From Aditi Khanna London, Jun 9: An NRI who attempted to arrange a sham marriage with a Scottish girl in a bid to stay in the UK has been jailed for six months and on the completion of the sentence he will be deported to India.

Gurwinder Wairach, 25, was stopped at the altar as he was in the process of marrying Scottish teenager Sheryl Kyle. The marriage didn't go ahead when 19-year-old Kyle's mother turned up at the registry office in the Scottish town of Ayr and alerted the concerned authorities.

UK immigration officers quizzed the pair and found that Wairach knew nothing about his bride-to-be and couldn't tell them even basic details about her such like her parents' names, or her what school she went to, Scotland's 'Daily Record' newspaper reported.

Kyle said last month that she only agreed to marry Wairach after being constantly pestered by him for months. Wairach had entered the UK on a student visa, but then overstayed illegally by failing to leave when his visa expired.

Instead of returning to India, he moved to Ayr where he tried to organise the sham marriage which would allow him to stay legally in the country. His defence lawyer, Ian Gillies, pleaded for leniency at Ayr Sheriff Court.

Gillies also asked the Sheriff to defer sentence for a month, and claimed his client would leave the country within two weeks of being given his passport back from the Crown Office. But the Sheriff branded the case a "serious offence", and jailed him.

He said: "Wairach has been convicted after trial of trying to enter a sham marriage. This is a serious offence. Such behaviour undermines this country's immigration laws and has an effect on the institution of marriage."

"In my view there is no alternative to a custodial sentence, and I sentence you to six months imprisonment," he said. His co-accused, Kamal Kapil, who is also charged with kidnapping a woman at an Ayr hotel, is on the run, and a warrant has been previously issued for his arrest.

PTI