A Pakistani man convicted of being part of a Leicester sham marriage gang has been cleared of any wrongdoing by top judges. Syed Mehtab always maintained he did not know his ex-wife, Kubrah Saiyed, was involved in a bogus marriage ring, and that - as far as he was concerned - their union was genuine.
Despite insisting he was an innocent dupe, he was found guilty of being involved in the wider plot and jailed for 12 months at Leicester Crown Court in January. But the 36-year-old has now been exonerated at London's Criminal Appeal Court.
Senior judges ruled there was 'no evidence' to prove he knew about Saiyed's role in the sham weddings.
The court heard Mr Mehtab, of Parkfield Avenue, Hillingdon, Uxbridge, married Saiyed in a ceremony in Belfast in July 2011, just two months after they met. They split in October the following year, and the prosecution case against him was that their marriage was 'suspicious and speedy'.
Crown lawyers claimed he tied the knot to get around UK immigration laws as part of a plot involving Saiyed.
Saiyed (27) of St Denys Road, Evington, Leicester, was one of three 'stooge wives' involved in the ring and was handed a two-year jail term.She had been married to three other men before Mr Mehtab, and had planned to marry another two - being paid up to £8,000 a time by the gang's organisers.
However, Mr Mehtab's case was always that he believed their relationship was genuine, and ended it when he discovered her 'lies and deceit'.
He said he met his wife while working at a shop in London, which police were able to confirm after seeing wage slips which showed them both working there at the same time.
Mr Mehtab said he only discovered his wife had been married three times before when the Home Office told him, in September 2012, after he applied to stay in the UK.
