Merseyside ‘bigamists’ secretly cheating on their spouses – Liverpool Echo

Police in Merseyside have investigated a number of married people alleged to be hiding a secret spouse or family from their other halves over the past decade.

Officers at Merseyside Police filed 11 offences of bigamy in the 10 years up to and including 2021. Bigamy is the offence of marrying someone while already married to another person, and can be punished by a maximum sentence of up to seven years in prison.

It is different from polygamy, which is the practice or custom of having more than one wife or husband at the same time. With polygamy, the spouses usually all know of each other, and frequently live together with the head of the family.

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In contrast, bigamists usually keep their partners secret from each other. Polygamy is permitted in some countries, and it is not an offence if a person who now lives in the UK had previously married multiple partners in a country where polygamy is legally allowed.

However, if a polygamist then chose to marry again while in the UK, that would be classed as bigamy, and a crime. However, offences are rare. In Merseyside three crimes of bigamy were recorded last year, two during the pandemic year of 2020, and one in 2019.

Zahra Pabani, family law partner at Irwin Mitchell said: Bigamy is a criminal offence here in the UK, but other countries can have little to no consequences for bigamists which is why often when this happens, its across two different countries. The level of deception needed to run the charade is intense and stressful for those involved even the bigamist at the heart of it.

Its always shocking when it happens and leaves the partner completely blindsided. If you suspect your partner of bigamy, you need two things: some concrete evidence and to report the offence to the police. Some would hire a private detective to get proof, but you cant just go on a hunch solid proof is needed. Its also always recommended to talk to a family lawyer or professional who can run through your options.

Across all the police force areas in England and Wales, a total of 599 cases have been recorded in the last decade. Crimes fell during the pandemic - particularly during lockdowns that may have proved a problem for anyone with two spouses and potentially two families.

Between April and June 2020 - when the country was under the most severe lockdown restrictions - there were eight offences nationally, compared to 18 during the same period of 2019 and 17 in 2021. Across the whole year, there were 58 crimes of bigamy recorded by police in 2021, 55 the previous year, then 86 in 2019, the year before the pandemic, 87 in 2018, and 57 in 2017.

Of cases in the last five years where investigations have been completed, just over one in 10 (10.8%) have resulted in someone being charged or summonsed to appear in court.

But in 82.4% of completed cases, the alleged bigamist went unpunished. That was either because of problems with the evidence - including the victim not wanting to press charges - or further investigation or prosecution not being deemed in the public interest.

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Merseyside 'bigamists' secretly cheating on their spouses - Liverpool Echo