Two more vicars arrested in sham immigrant marriage probe

By Sam Greenhill and Rachel Quigley
4th August 2010

Two Church of England vicars have been arrested in another suspected bogus marriage scam.
Police swooped on the Reverend Brian Shipsides, 54, and the Reverend Elwon John, 43, in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The raids came less than a week after a jury found the Reverend Alex Brown guilty of carrying out the country’s biggest ever sham wedding racket in East Sussex.

Illegal immigrants have been targeting the Church of England to con their way to a UK visa.

They marry a stranger who is an EU citizen and are then entitled to apply for permission to stay in Britain as a ‘spouse’, with access to free healthcare, education and benefits. the rest