THE trial of a vicar accused of conducting hundreds of sham marriages has been rescheduled for the third time.
The Reverend Nathan Ntege, 54, is charged with 14 immigration offences relating to 492 marriages held of a 15-month period at the Church of St Jude's and St Aidan in Thornton Heath.
Verger Brian Miller, 80, of Owl Close, Selsdon, is charged with the same offences.
Their trial was due to begin on Monday (January 27) but, at a pre-trial hearing this week, it was rescheduled for September 8. It has previously been moved from November.
It has also emerged that Maudlyn Riviere, secretary of the Thornton Road church, has been charged with carrying out an act to facilitate a breach of UK immigration law.
A third woman, Galina Petkova, 50, is alleged to have acted as a "fixer" for a number of weddings, as well as allegedly being married in one of the ceremonies herself. She is charged with conspiracy and five counts of assisting illegal entry.
A fourth person, connected to Petkova, has also been charged with facilitating a breach of immigration law.
The investigation concerns hundreds of ceremonies conducted between December 2009 and March 2011.
