Nottingham couple took underage sons abroad for marriage

In his sentencing remarks, Judge James Sampson accepted there was “no evidence of threats, violence or coercion”, adding the parents – who had no previous convictions – acted on “misguided cultural beliefs, rather than malice”.

The court heard there were no ongoing safeguarding concerns.

However, the judge said the couple had a responsibility to safeguard their children’s best interests.

Sampson said: “Balancing these considerations in my view, including the public abhorrence to this practice, there has to be a custodial sentence.”

The judge added: “One must not forget the other victim here, the bride.

“Although the bride is said to have been 18 at the time, it is right to observe that having been rejected by one son, she became available to the other as if she were a piece of chattel, in other words, a piece of property.”

The couple were free to walk out of the courtroom, but were ordered to each undertake 100 hours of unpaid work in the community.

In a statement following the sentencing, Emma Cornell, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Child marriage laws are in place to protect children from the harm done by entering a lifelong commitment at such an early age.

“These defendants disregarded that protection by taking the boys to Pakistan to be married.

“The law applies wherever the offending takes place and, on their return, these two defendants were rightly held to account.”