Pregnant woman sold for £15,000

Reporter: Lucy Kenderdine
Date published: 13 November 2014


THIRTEEN people have been arrested for their part in a trafficking ring which “sold” a pregnant woman into a sham marriage for up to £15,000.

Police raided homes in Failsworth, Rochdale and Cheetham Hill yesterday morning and arrested 10 men and three women for offences including trafficking people for exploitation, conspiracy to breach immigration law, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and in three cases exceeding the limits of stay in the UK.

In May a 20-year-old, 25-weeks pregnant victim flew to Luton from Eastern Europe, believing she was going to visit her England-dwelling sister.

On arrival she was met by a man claiming to be her sister’s friend, and taken to an address in Failsworth. The victim soon realised she had been tricked into the country to be sold by the gang for a sham marriage.

The man involved had paid the gang up to £15,000 for the victim, in the hope of avoiding deportation.

The pair married under sharia law in Rochdale in July before moving into an address in Ashfield Road.

The alarm was raised when the victim went to hospital with another woman, who acted as an interpreter to tell staff the victim wanted an abortion.

The victim was spoken to by an independent interpreter who heard she didn’t want an abortion and had been sold into marriage against her will.

Detective Inspector James Faulkner said: “This woman was brought to Manchester with the sole purpose of being married to a man who hoped to boost his immigration status. By the time she realised what was going on, it was too late. We believe the case is just the tip of the iceberg; as many as 400 cases are currently being investigated in Manchester - 400 women brought to this country on a false premise and trapped in relationships with men they don’t know.”