Bride led away in handcuffs minutes before the ceremony was due to take place

This is the dramatic moment a sham wedding couple were led away in handcuffs minutes before their ceremony was due to take place.

Bigamous bride Olivia Godefroy, 22, and her fiancé Devine Abanda, 27, were about to begin the ceremony at Winchester Register Office when they were arrested by Home Office investigators. 

Ivorian 'fixers' Armand Djedje, 30, and Olivier Attie, 31, were also arrested by a specialist team of Home Office investigators in Hampshire in February last year. 

Prosecutor Michael Butt described their plan as a 'sneaky little affair' at Winchester Crown Court yesterday but Abanda - a student from Cameroon - insisted it was genuine. 

Mr Abanda told the jury how he met Godefroy, originally from the west-African country of Gabon, in London and started a relationship with her.

She allegedly announced she was pregnant, according to Mr Abanda who added: 'I felt bad because I didn't think it was proper for her to get pregnant and for me to get her pregnant when we were not married.

'Culturally to us that is not seen as a good thing. We decided to make a plan to get married.'

When the police and immigration officials swooped at the wedding, Abanda heard Godefroy being arrested for bigamy, telling the jury: 'I felt terrible.'

He denied entering into marriage to enhance his immigration status for staying in the UK, claiming he intended to return to Cameroon to run the family's supermarket chain.

Samson Ndaga, a chartered accountant with Ernst and Young who lives in Basingstoke told the jury he was a longtime friend of the Abanda family.

He added that 'he [Abanda] is a decent man' and he never thought there was anything suspect about the wedding. 

Cameroonian national Abanda - as well as Djedje and Attie - were all convicted of one count of conspiracy to facilitate obtaining leave to remain in the UK by deception at Winchester Crown Court. 

While Godefroy of Grove Street, Deptford, admitted one count of conspiracy to facilitate obtaining leave to remain in the UK and one count of bigamy. All four defendants are to be sentenced on a date to be fixed.

The court also heard how, moments before the ceremony, Cameroonian national Abanda had stopped at a cashpoint to pay the 'fixers'.

The police found £2,500 on Djedje of of Evelyn Street, Deptford, and Attie of Guibal Road, Lee, after they arrived at the wedding in the same vehicle as the couple - but did not enter the ceremony.

A Home Office spokesman said: 'When questioned, French national Godefroy admitted she had entered into a bogus marriage once before.

'She told officers she had met Djedje and Attie at King's Cross and the group travelled to Winchester together.

'She was to be paid £2,000 to enter into the marriage.'

He added that the cash had already been seized using Proceeds of Crime Act powers.

'This gang had a complete disregard for the institution of marriage and made a brazen attempt to abuse the UK's immigration controls,' said Martin Huxley, assistant director of the Home Office's criminal and financial investigations team.

'Sham marriage abuse will not be tolerated, and our dedicated, specialist teams will continue to pursue rigorously those trying to cheat the system.

'Regardless of whether you are a fixer or a participant, our specialist teams will catch up with you and you will be put before the courts.'

Culled