A Watford man has been jailed for his part in a sham-wedding attempt to cheat immigration rules.

Pakistani national Ijaz Khalid, of St Albans Road, and Michaela Sivakova admitted planning a spurious ceremony in a bid to allow him to remain in the UK despite his visa having already expired.

The UK Border Agency, which prosecuted the case, said the bogus bride’s parents, Ruzena Sivakova and Michal Sivak, were also convicted for played a part in the sham.

Officers from the agency arrested the four moments before the planned ceremony on July 20 this year at Calderdale Register Office in Halifax after suspicions had been raised by the registrar.

An investigation uncovered a ‘crib sheet’ in Khalid’s car, which contained information about his wife to be, and the story of how they had met.

Bradford Crown Court heard pair told investigators they had met in a coffee shop in Bradford in January of this year.

However, mobile phone records showed the first contact between the couple came much later, just a month before the wedding was due to take place.

They also discovered that Sivakova, 22, of Lightowler Close, Halifax, had a baby with her long-term boyfriend.

Khalid, 28, had also applied for permission to marry another Czech woman in April – three months into his supposed relationship with Sivakova.

The Border Agency said Khalid pleaded guilty to the conspiracy at a hearing at in July.

The three Czechs all originally pleaded not guilty, but all changed their pleas on the third day of a trial when confronted with the evidence from their mobile phones.

Khalid and Michaela Sivakova pleaded guilty to conspiracy to facilitate a breach of immigration law and to perjury.

He was sentenced to 18 months in jail.

She received a 12-month suspended sentence, ordered to do 175 hours of unpaid work and was given a curfew of 7am to 7pm for three months.

Michal Sivak, 47, and Ruzena Sivakova, 41, both of Spring Hall Place, Halifax, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to facilitate a breach of immigration law.

Sivak received a 12-month sentence, suspended for a year, with a curfew of 7am to 7pm for three months.

Sivakova was handed a 12-month suspended sentence and was ordered to carry out 175 hours unpaid work.