Want the top news headlines sent to your inbox daily? Sign up to our FREE newsletter below Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A minister has told how immigration laws are being tightened up as sham marriage plots are smashed.

This week a gang were in court after officials burst in on fake weddings in the North.

Pakistani couple Muhammad Hanif and Huma Aslam, who were in the UK on student visas, conspired with Czech couple Michal Mankos and Katerina Gerychova in an attempt to cheat the system in order for the former to gain long-term residency in the country.

With the help of others in the gang, the two couples held their bogus weddings at the same time on the same day, one at Newcastle Civic Centre and one at Gretna Green.

Now five members have been jailed and three given suspended sentences after pleading guilty to conspiring to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law at Newcastle Crown Court.

And today immigration minister James Brokenshire told the Sunday Sun how government will not tolerate abuse of marriage laws.

He said: “This case, which stretched from Gateshead to Gretna to Manchester, sends a message to anyone who thinks they can cheat our immigration rules. Staging a sham marriage is not a shortcut British citizenship – but to jail. Wherever you are, our dedicated officers will catch you and bring you to court.

“The gangs involved in this kind of criminal behaviour are often exploiting some of society’s most vulnerable people, and have links to other serious organised crimes, such as people smuggling. The Government is determined to make life impossible for the criminals who try to break our immigration laws.

“That’s why we have introduced a notice period of up to 70 days for marriage and civil partnerships to allow our teams to investigate suspected shams. On top of this, all proposed marriages and civil partnerships involving someone from outside the European Economic Area with limited or no immigration status will be referred by registration officers to the Home Office.”

Newcastle Crown Court heard heard ringleader Shah Waseem and his acquaintance Ivan Holub introduced the couples, knowing Hanif and Aslam’s visas had run out and Mankos and Gerychova desperately needed money.

Shah then facilitated the marriages after a fee of around £6,000 was agreed with the Pakistani couple, £2,500 of which was promised to Mankos and Gerychova.

To get the four witnesses the two bogus weddings needed, Mankos enlisted the help of his sister Vladislava Mankosova and her son Simon Poliak.

But, at a pre-marriage interview, a registrar at Newcastle Civic Centre became suspicious, noting the groom seemed “edgy” and the bride was “trying too hard”.

Home Office investigators unravelled the plot and lay in wait for the wedding parties to arrive at their ceremonies on July 24 last year.

Mr Brokenshire added: “The new Immigration Bill we are bringing before Parliament later this year will make life even tougher for those who should not be here.

“It will create a new criminal offence of illegal working, allowing us to seize and confiscate illegal wages for what they are – the proceeds of crime.

“Working with the banks, we have already stopped illegal immigrants opening new current accounts. The new Immigration Bill will compel banks to take action against existing ones.

“The North East’s roads will be protected by new powers that allow our officers to seize driving licences from illegal migrants, and legislation that allows for the seizure and disposal of vehicles owned by people in this country illegally.

“And the local housing market will be protected by new powers to tackle the rogue landlords who let rooms to those who are here illegally.”

Waseem Abbas Shah, 30, Derby Court, Newcastle was jailed for three years and nine months; Ivan Holub, 24, Ripon Street, Gateshead, was jailed for 33 months; Michal Mankos, 24, of Bamburgh Terrace, Byker, Newcastle, 30 months; Muhammad Umer Hanif, 23, of Hampstead Road, Newcastle, was given 18 months; Huma Aslam, 26, of Stanley Road, Cheadle, Manchester, was jailed for two years; Katerina Gerychova, 24, Westbourne Avenue, Gateshead, 20 months, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to undertake 120 hours of unpaid work.

Vladislava Mankosova, 42, Fosse Terrace, Gateshead, was jailed for 15 months, suspended for two years while Simon Poliak, 19, of Fosse Terrace, Gateshead, was handed 13 months, suspended for two years.