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January 26, 2012

A vicar's been jailed for two and a half years for staging a series of sham marriages over the last three years.

The Revd Canon Dr John Magumba from Rochdale held weddings so that people could get visas to stay in the UK.

It's understood he helped with 28 bogus marriages and charged thousands of pounds each time.

It's been reported Magumba showed no emotion as sentence was passed at Bolton Crown Court.

Detective Sergeant John Wilkinson from the UK Border Agency said:

"It wasn't a case of UK national marrying UK national.

"He was predominantly marrying Nigerian nationals and Eastern Europeans from the Czech and Slovak communities.

"When we looked at parish records it became very apparent there was something amiss with what was going on in Mr Magumba's parishes."

Magumba carried out bogus services while at St Peter's in Newbold; and St Luke's in Deeplish, both in Rochdale.

The Diocese of Manchester released this statement to Premier:

"Revd Magumba, as an experienced clergyman, was given responsibilities both in the parish and the diocese on trust.

"This trust was broken and the criminal activity was hidden. The church and Diocese gave its full cooperation when suspicions grew and an investigation took place.

"The Church of England takes more than 55,000 weddings a year.

"Our 13,000 licensed clergy are fully trained and expected to operate to the highest standards of honesty.

"Problems such as this are very rare but, when they do occur, it is right that the courts deal with them appropriately".

Magumba's scam ran for almost three years until it was uncovered by a Border Agency investigation.

The Diocese of Manchester suspended Magumba last march.