“Not stuck in the Western world.”
A Nottingham couple have been handed suspended prison sentences after taking their teenage sons to Pakistan to be married in a case described by a judge as reflecting “misguided cultural beliefs”.
The husband and wife admitted to carrying out conduct for the purpose of causing a child under the age of 18 to enter into a marriage.
Nottingham Crown Court heard the couple travelled to Pakistan with their sons, both under 18, in April 2023 to find brides for them.
The court was told one of the brothers was initially intended to marry a woman from Pakistan.
However, after deciding he did not like her, she was instead married to the other brother during a Nikkah ceremony.
The parents, aged in their 40s and 50s, were each sentenced to two months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. They were also ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.
The case is believed to be among the first prosecutions under the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022, which came into force on February 27, 2023.
The law made it a criminal offence to cause a child under 18 to marry, even if there is no evidence of coercion. It also applies to religious or traditional ceremonies conducted overseas.
Previously, 16 and 17-year-olds could legally marry in England and Wales with parental consent.
The court heard the couple were unaware of the legal change.
Concerns were first raised by a place of education in June 2023, prompting a police investigation.
Although the couple initially claimed they had travelled to Pakistan for a family holiday, investigators later discovered messages and photographs on their phones that contradicted their account.
Two months before the trip, on February 13, the father sent a message saying he was looking for a “rishta” for both of his sons.
When asked if that was what his children wanted, he replied:
“Yes brother, my sons don’t want to mess around.
“Not stuck in the Western world.”
Further messages exchanged on April 29 revealed discussions about one son rejecting the proposed bride.
The mother wrote that one of her sons “doesn’t like the girl” and was advised to ask him again.
After she replied saying she had already asked “five or six times”, she was told that if he still disagreed, they could “do an engagement rather than a Nikkah”.
The woman later married the other brother.
The court heard the couple remain married, although the wife continues to live in Pakistan rather than the UK.
A Nikkah ceremony is recognised under Islamic and Pakistani law. However, for a marriage to be legally recognised in the UK, it must take place in registered premises.
In sentencing remarks, Judge James Sampson said there was “no evidence of threats, violence or coercion”.
He added the parents had acted on “misguided cultural beliefs, rather than malice”.
The judge also acknowledged the couple had no previous convictions and that there were no ongoing safeguarding concerns involving the children.
However, he stressed the parents still had a duty to protect their sons’ welfare.
Judge Sampson said: “Balancing these considerations in my view, including the public abhorrence to this practice, there has to be a custodial sentence.”
The judge also criticised the treatment of the bride during the process.
He added:
“One must not forget the other victim here, the bride.”
“Although the bride is said to have been 18 at the time, it is right to observe that having been rejected by one son, she became available to the other as if she were a piece of chattel, in other words, a piece of property.”
Following sentencing, Emma Cornell of the Crown Prosecution Service said:
“Child marriage laws are in place to protect children from the harm done by entering a lifelong commitment at such an early age.
“These defendants disregarded that protection by taking the boys to Pakistan to be married.
“The law applies wherever the offending takes place and, on their return, these two defendants were rightly held to account.”
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