Revenge of Shirley Valentine: Humiliated gran refuses to divorce Gambian...so 








he'll never get a UK visa

















Last updated at 10:37 PM on 24th October 2010








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It is a familiar story: British grandmother on holiday falls for young Gambian 








man and marries him only for the relationship to collapse.








The difference in this case, however, is that the African husband is the one 








left dreaming about what might have been.








Mary Cotnoir, 59, realised that 25-year-old waiter Demba Sanneh had wooed her 








purely because he wanted a visa to live in the UK.

















Lovey-dovey: Mary Cotnoir, 59, became besotted with 6ft 6in Gambian Demba Senneh 








on a holiday to Gambia in January. They married shortly afterwards but within 








hours, the bridegroom turned cold








So she returned home without him, and is refusing to divorce him so he cannot 








seek another British bride.








‘I plan to stay married to this man so he can’t do what he’s done to me to 








another woman,’ said the nurse from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. ‘He broke my 








heart and I’ll never forgive him.’








 








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Mother-of-five Mrs Sanneh – despite the episode, she prefers to be known by her 








married name – met her husband-to-be while visiting the West African country for 








two weeks in January this year.

















All white on the night: Mrs Sanneh and her 26-year-old husband both wore white 








on their big day








In an echo of the movie Shirley Valentine about a smitten holidaymaker, she 








quickly fell for the 6ft 6in waiter.








‘He was very athletic – I thought he was absolutely gorgeous,’ she said. ‘It did 








cross my mind that he might only want to be with me because I was British, but 








those fears evaporated when we were together.’








Mrs Sanneh, whose previous marriage ended in divorce, added: ‘I’d been single 








for 20 years and this man made me feel more alive than I had in years. On the 








second night he told me he was falling in love with me and we slept together 








soon after that. 








‘He seemed so sincere. He told me he despised the kind of men who saw English 








women as their ticket into Britain.’

















Till death us do part: Mrs Sanneh plans to stay married to Demba so that he 








can't marry another women in order to get a UK passport








At the end of her holiday, she reluctantly went home but returned in March and 








within 24 hours Mr Sanneh proposed. ‘I hadn’t been expecting it,’ she said. ‘But 








I said yes. I was madly in love.’








The couple had planned to marry in the UK but Mr Sanneh’s application for a 








tourist visa was refused.








Instead, his bride returned to Gambia in September and paid £500 to be married 








in a traditional civil ceremony. 








She said: ‘It was a magical day. Demba’s entire family were there – about 50 of 








them – and there were drummers and dancing. 








‘I wore a lovely white dress and Demba told me how beautiful I looked. It truly 








was the happiest day of my life.’








Within hours of the wedding, however, she says her husband’s behaviour changed.








‘Demba started demanding money for him and his family. He became moody and 








withdrawn. He refused to sleep with me. In fact, he stopped being affectionate 








altogether.’








By the time Mrs Sanneh was due to return home eight days later, she knew the 








marriage was over. 








‘He didn’t even give me a kiss goodbye at the airport,’ she said. 








‘Right up until I left he was asking me for money. In the end I gave him the 








last of my foreign notes just to keep him quiet.’

















Family affair: Mrs Sanneh poses with her new husband and his relatives. But soon 








afterwards she claimed that he turned cold and demanded money from her








She added: ‘None of my children attended the wedding because I didn’t tell 








anyone apart from my youngest son. He was always against it – he’s the same age 








as Demba and he couldn’t understand why a young man would want to be with a 








woman my age.’








The most recent Home Office statistics show that in 2008 115 Gambians were 








granted British citizenship after marrying UK nationals.








Yesterday Mr Sanneh was still insisting his intentions were honourable. On the 








phone from Gambia, he said: ‘We got married as I want to be her husband. I am 








still her husband. I know Mary is in the UK but I would like our marriage to 








work out.’








But his bride said: ‘I feel so stupid and humiliated. Although I’m lucky I 








didn’t part with lots of cash – I gave him a few hundred pounds for driving 








lessons and bought him a £400 laptop and a mobile – it doesn’t lessen the pain.








‘I’d planned to retire and spend the rest of my life with Demba, living for half 








the year in Gambia and half in the UK, but that dream is now shattered. 








‘He’s hurt me more than I could ever imagine.’








 








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