A PIZZA chef on trial accused of entering into a sham marriage told the jury it was a love match and the couple hoped to spend the rest of their lives together.

Muhammed Khalil, 34, whose UK visa had expired, is alleged to have wed Eva Dankova, 42, in a commercial arrangement so he could legally remain in the country.

He and Dankova, both of Devonshire Street West, Keighley, deny conspiring to commit an act, namely a sham marriage, between January 12 and February 2.

Dankova, a cleaner, also pleads not guilty to bigamy because she was still married to fellow Slovakian Andrej Danko.

Relationship exposed when bride could not spell future husband's name, jury told

The jury at Bradford Crown Court has been told that the couple were rumbled when Dankova could not spell her future husband's name for the registrar.

She got Pakistani national Khalil's second name wrong and the pair "could not converse in the same language,” it is alleged.

They were arrested by immigration officers in June after marrying at Keighley Town Hall on February 2.

Khalil told the court he had no criminal convictions and had been free to marry Dankova.

They met at a party in Bradford and she moved in with him two months later. They were like boyfriend and girlfriend and went on trips to London and Manchester.

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Khalil said it was Dankova’s idea to get married.

"She said: 'I like you and I want to marry you. I want to spend my life with you,'” he told the jury.

He replied: “I love you and we’ll get married.”

Asked by his lawyer, Anne-Marie Hutton, why he wanted to marry Dankova, Khalil said: “She is a loving, caring lady and that is why I decided to spend my life with her.”

He added: “Some people just spend one or two minutes together and they want to spend their whole lives together. Eva is that kind of person.”

He said it was “a very good relationship.”

“Every single day, it is getting stronger and stronger," he claimed.

Cross-examined by prosecutor Angus MacDonald, Khalil agreed he wrote down Dankova’s name, date of birth, favourite foods of soup, rice and chicken, shoe size and “she likes the colour red,” in his diary.

He told the court it was to help her in interviews because she got mixed up.

Earlier in the trial, senior registrar, Lynda Fordham, said she conducted a notice of marriage interview with the defendants in January.

She submitted "a suspicious marriage form" to immigration officers after Dankova spelled Khalil's name Kallih and there was no interaction between them.

Immigration officers planned to attend the marriage ceremony but there was a breakdown in communication and the wedding went ahead.

The trial continues.