vicar has been jailed for four-and-a-half years for immigration fraud after conducting at least 200 bogus wedding ceremonies for illegal immigrants.
The Reverend Brian Shipsides, 56, carried out the “meticulously planned and carefully orchestrated” fake ceremonies at the All Saints Church in east London. The judge said: “Your important role in this conspiracy was a disgraceful abuse of your calling as an ordained minister of the church. “This was a conspiracy to breach the United Kingdom’s immigration laws by arranging sham marriages. “These marriages took place in your church. Your church, where you had been the priest in charge for many years. “There really is no mitigation in respect of this type of offending which undermines UK immigration law, threatens the benefit system and exploits the lives of many vulnerable and desperate people.”
The bogus ceremonies were between non-Europeans, mostly from Nigeria, who were married off to Europeans to obtain immigration rights. Couples were charged £140 by the church for each illegal service.