THE sentence of a man who took part in an international marriage fraud has been delayed.

Mohammed Nasar Nassib, 21, of Snow Street, Blackburn, was due to appear at Preston Crown Court after pleading guilty to assisting in the illegal entry into the UK of Nazranhnabanu Gulam Patel between September 1998 and January 2000.

But a judge took the case out of the court list and Nassib will now appear at a later date.

Earlier Blackburn magistrates heard Nassib was paid £5,000 to travel to Bombay where he posed for wedding pictures, part of a plot to deceive immigration officials and facilitate illegal entry into the UK of his bogus bride.

Nassib was arrested as a small part of a massive police operation codenamed Operation Capital which has been going on for more than five years.