An Imam who admitted to the ‘forced marriage’ of two underage children has been given a suspended prison sentence.
Ashraf Osmani, 52, said he was unaware of a change to the law when he conducted a ‘Nikah ceremony’ for two 16-year-olds at Northampton’s Central Mosque.
A court heard he believed he was helping the youngsters, who were touring mosques seeking to marry, to have sexual relations without committing the sin of fornication.
But sentencing him to 15 weeks in custody, suspended for a year, Mr Justice Akhlaq Choudhury described his approach as ‘negligent’.
‘People look to you for guidance and put their trust in you,’ he said.
‘You were entirely in charge of the marriage process at the mosque and ignorance of the law is no defence. You ought to have known that the law had changed.’
He told Osmani, who stood in the dock clutching a red keffiyeh, ‘I am sorry it has come to this Mr Osmani. It was a mistake on your part but a serious one.
‘You must stay out of trouble for the next year, I’m sure you will, otherwise you will have to serve the 15 weeks imprisonment.’
Earlier, prosecutor Jennifer Newcomb told the sentencing hearing at Northampton Crown Court that the marriage had come to light when the bride’s foster parents found a marriage certificate in her room.
They raised their concerns with the girl’s social worker but when she was spoken to by police insisted that no ceremony had actually taken place.
Six months later, when re-interviewed she said that she had approached one mosque only to be turned down due to her age before asking Osmani who agreed to marry them the following day.
The girl told the police that Osmani had asked to see their passports and they filled in an application form.
Though they brought friends with them, two members of the mosque acted as witnesses, and after the ceremony they celebrated with a meal and photos at a restaurant which they put on social media.
The youngster, who cannot be named by order of the court, told police that she had not been coerced and both she and her boyfriend had wanted to do it
The boy told officers that he knew his girlfriend wanted to marry and he wanted to make her happy.
In a voluntary interview with the police, Osmani, who had been an Imam since 1996, said the couple had paid a £50 fee to the mosque for the ceremony.
He admitted that the girl had told him she was in care and that her foster parents weren’t happy.
But Ms Newcomb said, ‘He did not consider them to be her parents as Islam recognizes.
‘He was helping them to have marital relations that would be OK in the eyes of God so they did not fornicate and commit sin.’
But she added, ‘It was incumbent on him to follow the law. He was not involved in planning but without him it could not have happened and he was in a position of public responsibility.
‘There is obvious harm to the community and the general public in undermining the protection of children. Child marriage is illegal whatever the circumstances.’
Ms Newcomb said that while Osmani, from Northampton, did not have a criminal record, he had accepted a police caution in 2009 for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
She told the court, ‘It may be relevant to this case in as much as the offence occurred at the mosque and again he said that he did not know the law had changed in relation to corporal punishment.’
Defending Osmani, James Gray said there had been no intention to defy the law.
‘He asked for their passports precisely so he could check their dates of birth,’ he said.
‘Had he known that the law had changed, he simply would not have done it.’
The law in England had changed six months earlier meaning only those aged 18 or over could marry.
Previously, 16 and 17-year-olds needed parental consent.
But Mr Gray told the court that had never applied to a ‘Nikah ceremony’ which could be annulled by announcement rather than involve legal proceedings.
He went on, ‘The reason these young people wanted to get married was that they were intent on starting a sexual relationship and wanted to keep it within the bounds of their faith.
‘They were determined to marry and might have ended up going to Scotland where you can marry at 16 without parental consent.’
Mr Gray said the two young people, who had refused to give formal statements to the police, had suffered no harm whatsoever.’
Describing Osmani, he said, ‘He is not merely a man of good character, he has spent his life encouraging others to lead decent lives.
‘This case has already caused him great shame and he has had to step down as a trustee of the mosque.’
Pleading for the matter to be discharged, he said the matter should have been dealt with by way of a caution, adding, ‘If his conviction remains he will not be able to carry on doing the good work he has done.’
Mr Justice Choudhury said that just 134 marriages of 16 and 17 year olds had taken place in England and Wales in the year before the law was changed.
‘Nevertheless, Parliament considered a change in the law was necessary after taking into account the impact early marriages can have on young people, especially girls.’
He said that in this case harm had been assessed at the lowest level but he sentenced Osmani as, ‘a deterrent to others’.
Osmani pleaded guilty last year to two counts of causing a child to enter into marriage in November 2023.
