Hi °C | Lo °C A Pakistani man arrested as he was about to get married in Belfast gave conflicting accounts on how long he had known his bride-to-be, the High Court has heard.
Kashif Ali (22) was detained along with a Slovakian woman (22) and their best man (39) when police disrupted a suspected sham marriage at the City Hall registry office.
All three of them were said to have travelled over from Scotland a day before the ceremony was due to take place in August.
The court heard there were significant differences in the accounts given by the suspects.
The prosecution said: “He said he had been in a relationship with the intended bride for six months and had cohabited from February.
“The proposed bride said they had been in a relationship for 18 months and had lived together in Athlone for the last 12 months.”
Ali, with an address at Levernbridge Way, Glasgow, faces a charge of illegally trying to remain in the UK by deception.
The accused, who was refused bail, was said to have arrived in the UK last December on a student visa.
