A father has narrowly escaped being jailed after his first wife discovered he had re-married without getting a divorce first.
Wayne Williams, 45, initially tied the knot with his first wife, Jodie Williams, in a luxurious ceremony in Mauritius in 2007. However the couple parted ways roughly a year later. Despite the split, Williams failed to obtain a divorce from his first wife and went on to marry another woman in 2019 – deliberately concealing the fact he was already married.
The truth came to light in 2022 when his first wife decided to pursue a divorce and tracked him down on Facebook, discovering he had wed another woman in September 2019. After learning the news, the first wife reached out to the second, ultimately ending Williams’ second marriage. The incident was then reported to the authorities, and Williams was subsequently charged with bigamy.
Williams, from Headcorn, Kent, pleaded guilty to the offence when he appeared in court in February. The sentencing was postponed to allow for a pre-sentencing report. Williams returned to Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on March 27 to receive his sentence.
The magistrates were informed the offence took place between 2019 and 2025, when his first wife alerted his second spouse. Prosecutor Rajni Prashar stated Williams met his first wife, Jodie, in 2006 and proposed to her a few months later. She added: “They got married in July 2007 in Mauritius, and there were witnesses, and one signed a certificate on July 9, 2007, at the hotel. The marriage was never registered in the UK, and in 2008, they split up.”
The prosecutor stated: “He met Sophie Barker in 2010 and never mentioned he’d been married before, and he proposed to her in November 2014. They got married in The Orchard suite in Maidstone in 2019.”
Magistrates were also informed his first wife decided in 2023 she wanted a divorce and made her own application for one and contacted Williams twice – but received no response. Ms Prashar added: “She decided to reach out and searched on Facebook and discovered he had since remarried. She reached out to Sophie and told her that she was still married to him and the matter was then reported to the police.”
In a statement, his second wife, Sophie, told police she felt numb and shocked when she discovered the truth, and honestly, “p***** off” he’d married her without divorcing his first wife. She added: “I feel such an idiot, it’s such a betrayal. I walked down the aisle in front of family and I was never legitimately married to him.”
When his lies were exposed, Williams claimed he thought he and his first wife had just had a blessing in Mauritius, and they had separated within a year. Williams said he believed the blessing was dissolved or annulled. But his solicitor, James Langridge, told the court his client had been negligent.
He stated: “This does pass the custody threshold, but any sentence could be suspended as noted in the pre-sentencing report, and he should be given credit for his early guilty plea. It was negligence on my client’s behalf. He didn’t want to cause a negative impact, but he concedes it does.
“This (crime) was introduced to protect females, and he married in Mauritius, that is clear, and he does concede that is the reality of the situation. He wants to apologise and move on.” The court also heard Williams has sole custody of his child, who relies on him daily, and if he were to go to prison, it would have a significant impact on him.
Magistrates stated they had examined case law on the matter and agreed it did pass the custody threshold, but were willing to suspend the term. As a result they sentenced Williams to three months in prison for the offence, but suspended the term for 12 months. He was also ordered to complete 80 hours of unpaid work and attend 10 rehabilitation sessions.
Additionally, Williams was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £154 and £85 in court costs, which he will pay at a rate of £20 per month.
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