Rare bigamy case heard by Llandudno magistrates

Feb 11 2010 by David Powell, North Wales Weekly News

A MAN yesterday admitted to being a bigamist in a rare legal case.

Dean Mills, 38, bigamously married his “wife” while still married to another woman. He had previously married and divorced a third woman legitimately.

Llandudno magistrates said it was an unusual case and adjourned the matter for a pre-sentence report. He will be sentenced by District Judge Andrew Shaw at Prestatyn Magistrates Court on March 1.

Prosecutor James Neary said Mills was first married to a Katherine Marie Mills in 1998. They divorced in April 2006. A decree absolute was granted in June 2006.

On July 31 2006, he sent a notice of marriage document to the authorities saying he wished to marry a Joanne Louise Johnson. He married Mrs Johnson at Manchester Register Office on August 18 2006, using the name Jake Johnson.

The prosecutor told Llandudno magistrates that there hadn’t been any application for a divorce.

But on June 19 2009, the defendant married Tracey Anne Jones at Conwy Register Office.

To register that “marriage”, he produced the decree absolute document from his first marriage to Katherine Mills.

The prosecutor said: “At no point did he let it be known he was still married to Joanne Johnson. He committed bigamy.”

Police were called in. The prosecutor said: “The defendant was interviewed. He put it the bigamy down to error on behalf of the registrar. There is no suggestion that Mills made a financial gain.”

Defending Mills, solicitor David Matthew said bigamy is so rare that there are no sentencing guidelines. He said between 2003-07 there were only 18 bigamy convictions on average a year in the UK.

He said: “The latest marriage to Tracey was for love, nothing more. She was suffering from a serious illness at the time of the marriage ceremony.

“The previous marriage (to Joanne Johnson) followed a short relationship and was an unhappy marriage.”

Mills used to live at Blaen y Coed, Denbigh but is currently serving a jail sentence for harassment and actual bodily harm.

The Weekly News contacted Katherine Mills who lives in Conwy county.

On his guilty plea for bigamy, his ex-wife, known as Kate, said: “I’m surprised he’s been caught out. I hope he gets sent down for it.

“I don’t think he’d know the truth if it hit him in the face, to be honest.”

Kate married Mills at St Paul’s Methodist Church, Abergele on September 26 1998.

Kate went on to have three children with Mills.

But she added: “He had been seeing Joanne a long time before we got divorced. He was trying to change his name to Jake Johnson when he was with me, which I thought was very strange.”