Marriage was sham, bigamy trial told
A sUsPeCTeD bigamist has claimed his marriage to a Peruvian woman was a sham so she could stay in the UK, a court heard yesterday.
It is alleged Iain Theyers, 45, married another woman behind his wife’s back – but she found out after spotting the relationship on Facebook. He is now on trial accused of bigamy.
Theyers, of Balloch, Inverness-shire, wed Marian Belahonia, 38, in Peru in 2006, while she was pregnant with his child.
Hull Crown Court heard Miss Belahonia could not stay in the UK to get married as she had illegally overstayed a visa. Yesterday, Theyers’ barrister Glenn Parsons accused Miss Belahonia of pressuring his client into marriage.
Mr Parsons said she had not followed correct procedures for the wedding, which state witnesses should have known Theyers for three years. He also claimed she paid $50 (£38) to collect her marriage certificate from a man in the street.
Mr Parsons continued: ‘This whole marriage was a sham – from start to finish – cooked up, by you and your family... You knew all along it was not legally binding. You knew, because you had been married before, you were not going along with the legal requirement required by Peruvian law.’
The court heard the couple returned to set up home in Nottingham six months after the wedding. Four years later the marriage ended. Theyers moved out and cut off all ties with her and the child.
she hired a private detective to find him but that failed. she then spotted pictures of him with Louise Martin on his Facebook page.
Theyers is accused of illegally marrying Miss Martin in Bridlington Town Hall on December 30, 2011 while still being married to Miss Belahonia. Theyers, a father of four, denies that marriage was ever legal.
The case continues.