Bigamist fined £2,000

Jackson "married" at Wick registry office

A former US soldier has been fined £2,000 for bigamously marrying a Scottish woman while planning to renew his wedding vows with his legal wife.

Fred Jackson, 42, appeared at Wick Sheriff Court on Friday.

He said he had believed he was divorced from his second wife Angela when he married Sandra MacGregor, whom he met through the internet.

But Mrs Jackson, 40, with whom the former US Special Forces soldier has two children, was devastated to learn her husband had married another woman, procurator fiscal Gary Aitken told the court.

Sheriff Ian Cameron said: "Mrs Angela Jackson is simply the victim in a sense of his having set up home with someone else and gone through a purported marriage ceremony."

Intended to divorce

He told Jackson that he had committed "quite a deliberate deception".

The sheriff added: "There is a public interest in maintenance of the integrity of the public registers of deaths, births and marriages and in a sense you breached that integrity until the position was discovered.

"You are aware that there is a possibility of imprisonment in relation to this offence.

"In the circumstances, and given your previous clean record, I am willing to deal with this by way of a fine."

Before the fine was levied, the court was told that Jackson intended to divorce Mrs Jackson as soon as possible.

The accused, an American whose address was given as Tomahawk Street, Perris, California, pleaded guilty to marrying Ms MacGregor bigamously during a civil ceremony in Wick last year.

Continued contact

It is understood the couple live together in Harbour Street, Wick.

During 2000, the accused was resident in the United States and struck up a communication with Ms MacGregor which was conducted over the internet.

They entered into a marriage with each other on 15 September last year.

But the accused continued to have contact with Angela Jackson and for at least part of the time they lived together as man and wife.

Despite their difficulties, Mrs Jackson believed a reconciliation was on the cards and they began to make plans to renew their wedding vows.

Police called

The court was then told that Mrs Jackson realised her husband had "married" someone else and she called the police.

Jackson's defence solicitor Neil Wilson previously said his client disputed the Crown's version of events.

He said any contact after the illegal marriage was only for the purpose of discussing custody and access to their children.

He added that Jackson claimed his legal wife told him he had filled in their marriage documents wrongly which led him to believe, mistakenly, that they were never legally married.

In any case, he said, Jackson believed he was free to marry under Californian law.

He added: "There may be an element of wilful self-delusion in that belief, but he presents to me as a man with a genuine belief that as of September 15 last year he wasn't married."