Bradford Sham Marriage Fixer "On The Run"

19 March 2012, 17:16 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A ``fixer'' who recruited desperate women at the school gates in Bradford for sham marriages to illegal immigrants is on the run after failing to turn up at court for sentence.

Mum-of-four Andzelina Surmaj, originally from Poland, was given three years and eight months in jail in her absence which she will serve when she is arrested. 

Her partner in crime, 38 year old Czech national Milan Cina, was jailed for five years at Burnley Crown Court.

Both acted as brokers, charging illegal immigrants thousands of pounds to arrange bogus weddings to EU nationals so they could stay in the UK.

The pair, both Roma gypsies, admitted their part in arranging six sham marriages in East Lancashire and Manchester between December 2008 and July 2009. But it is thought they could have been involved in around 40 bogus ceremonies in all.

Surmaj, 30, targeted fellow eastern European women desperate for money she met at the gates of Whetley Primary School in Bradford where her children were pupils.