THE PSNI has apologised to a couple whose wedding they interrupted in the false belief that it was a sham marriage.
Neil McElwee from Tyrone and his Chinese bride Yanan Sun (19) were interrupted by police as they were preparing for their marriage ceremony on Tuesday.
Mr McElwee, a 24-year-old chef from Castlederg, said the police’s actions were disgraceful: “My wife is 5½ months pregnant and they just treated her in a disgusting fashion.
“It is just a disgrace and a shambles; the police know it was a shambles themselves. We did not get to our reception until 8.30pm at night,” he said, adding that the couple intend to lodge complaints with Police Ombudsman Al Hutchinson, the UK Border Agency and the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
The couple were married a day later. Their solicitor Karina Breslin said basic police work should have been done before disrupting the marriage ceremony.
She said the bride’s father had been arrested weeks earlier for overstaying a visa and was being deported so the authorities had every opportunity to check the bride’s paperwork.
The police action was taken after an anonymous letter was sent to the Guildhall which houses the registrar’s office in Derry city.
Supt Chris Yates confirmed the PSNI had made five arrests in a UK Border Agency investigation of a suspected sham marriage. Four people were released without charge. However, one woman, not the bride, was detained in relation to her immigration status. “Police have apologised to the couple and their families,” the PSNI said.