British woman who married Nigerian man for papers has been jailed for 6 years

A 35-year-old babysitter, Emma Louise Evans, who agreed to go into a sham marriage with Kazeem Kolade, a Nigerian immigrant, so he could get his papers to stay in the UK legally, has been jailed for six years by a Burnley Crown Court, reports Mirror.


The marriage of convenience which was described by Judge Jonathan Gibson, as striking at the heart of the UK immigration system, was conducted at the Blackburn Register Office in July 2012 and by the time it was discovered, Evans had gone into another of such marriages for money.

"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."

The Court heard the sham marriage was later annulled so that Evans could genuinely marry another Nigerian, Stephen Akinseye, the following year.

Initially Evans was accused of two suspected sham marriages - the first to Kolade and the second to Akinseye - as well as a third charge of bigamy.

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