Back in October 2013, an alleged scam was reported, in which 180 Italian couples were thought to have attempted to facilitate a so-called “quickie” divorce using British courts to circumvent the mandatory three year separation period in Italy. The plan, which was described as a form of “divorce tourism” involved at least one partner from each couple assuming fake British residency. 179 of these used a fictitious address in the town of Maidenhead, with the remaining Italian husband and wife opting for an address in Epsom. The matter went to the High Court where Simon Murray, for the Queen's Proctor, asked Sir James Munby, president of the Family Division to overturn the decrees nisi and decrees absolute which were granted: “Italian couples were charged some 4,000 euros in each case for a fast-track divorce ... The decrees should be rescinded.”
“It was in fact a mailbox”
Sir Munby has now declared all the marriages void on grounds of fraud. Giving his judgment, he said the “problem was first identified in late February 2012 by an eagle-eyed member of the court staff at Burnley county court, Julie Farrah, who spotted that in two files, both involving Italian parties, the address was the same and that it was in Maidenhead.” She brought this to the attention of district judge Conway, who contacted a colleague in the Slough county court and arranged for a member of the court staff there to visit the address in question (Flat 201, 5 High Street, Maidenhead). However, no residential accommodation could be found at the address and when police officers executed a search warrant they confirmed the absence of any residence. Sir Munby noted that: “It was in fact a mailbox, mailbox 201, one of a number of mailboxes located in commercial premises. As the investigating officer in charge of the police investigation, DS Jonathan Groenen, mordantly commented in his witness statement: ‘It is not possible for 179 applicants or respondents to reside at this address.’ Indeed, given the dimensions of the mailbox it is clear that not even a single individual, however small, could possibly reside in it.”
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