Jail for conman who tricked woman into sham marriage

Julie Stead, 28, wed Ahmed Jobe in his native country after he gave her an ultimatum: go through with the wedding or face being left stranded in the West African country with no money and no passport.

Miss Stead, a nursing home care worker from Bridlington who met Jobe in a nightclub in 2006, went through with the sham wedding, not realising that Jobe was a bigamist and a conman.

She said: "I felt completely isolated, I didn't know what to do, he knew that I didn't have anywhere to go in Gambia and that I didn't know anyone or could speak the language. I was stuck."

Miss Evans said she felt so ashamed and frightened that she did not tell anyone about the marriage. She later discovered that Jobe was already married and had two children.

Yesterday, a judge at Leeds Crown Court jailed Jobe for a string of false identity offences which helped him get a mortgage, con banks, government officials, police and the courts.

Jobe, 31, who was living in Hyde Park, Eastmoor, Wakefield, assumed the identity of a Liverpudlian called Carl Davies whose passport was stolen.

Despite being an illegal immigrant on an expired student visa he went on to accumulate motoring convictions and a police caution in the name of Mr Davies.

Jobe denied 10 charges – including handling stolen goods, forgery, using a false instrument, two counts of perverting the course of justice, perjury, and obtaining leave to remain in the UK by deception –but was found guilty after a trial.

Following his jailing, Miss Stead said: "I'm very pleased with the sentence. I'm just glad it's all over."