Latest update February 10th, 2025 2:25 PM
Man who married twice to know fate today
Kaieteur News – A man who decided to marry a second time without dissolving his first marriage will know his fate today when he appears in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts for sentencing. The defendant, Michael Taylor, 38, an airport ramp attendant of Lot 1 Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara, is being tried by Magistrate, Rondell Weever.
Found guilty of bigamy, Michael Taylor.
Magistrate Weever had ruled that the prosecution had provided enough evidence to show that Taylor did in fact commit bigamy. Bigamy is the offence of marrying someone while already married another.
The matter was adjourned to today’s date for sentencing to be handed down. Taylor was out on $50,000 bail pending the outcome of the trial. However, his bail was revoked after he was found guilty and he was remanded to prison until sentencing.
On his first appearance Taylor had denied the charge which stated that he got married to another woman while still being married to another. The charge was filed under the Section 83(1) of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act which stipulates, “Everyone, who being married, marries any other person during the life of the former husband or wife, whether the marriage takes place in Guyana or elsewhere, shall be guilty of a felony and liable to a term of imprisonment for seven years.”
The court had heard that Taylor had no knowledge of the crime and that he was unaware that he is still married to his first wife due to the fact that she promised to divorce him before he moved out of their marital home. However, Taylor’s lawyer on a previous occasion had admitted that there is no record before the court to show the couple had ever filed for a divorce.
Kaieteur News had reported that the charge was filed after Taylor’s first wife found out about his wedding during January 2020 and notified the General Registrar’s Office (GRO).
According to reports, Taylor and his first wife, with whom he shares two children, had gotten married in 2015. They had reportedly lived together for five years before separating because of his infidelity. During November 2019, Taylor had reportedly moved out of the home and went to live with his girlfriend at Soesdyke.
The woman had told this publication that she found out about her husband’s second marriage from a mutual friend, months after he had moved out. According to the woman, “De person call me and say you deh home and your husband have big wedding going on.”
The woman had stated that she was shocked when she heard the news. She added, “I went all over to find out if there is anything I could do,” and “then a lawyer advised me to go to GPO to the Registrar’s Office and find out if they were married legally.”
As instructed, the wife visited the Registrar’s Office and presented her marriage certificate. She said that soon after, officials at the GRO uncovered another marriage certificate in the name of her husband and his new wife.
She said that she learnt from the Head of the GRO that a crime had been committed and that the matter would be forwarded to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Guyana Police Force. Taylor was later charged with bigamy and placed before the court.
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