A vile bigamist who married his 16-year-old step-daughter and had children with both her and her has attempted to defend his behaviour.
John Ingram was already married to the teenager’s mum when he changed his name to marry the girl in 1988 – and claimed he did so as she would be entitled to benefits.
Now 69, the pensioner told the Maidstone Crown Court he had lied and told those officiating the ceremony – attended by his wife – that any previous marriages had ended.
The court heard he had fathered several children with both women, though many of the youngsters had grown up unaware of paternity, and it was not until February 2020 that he was arrested for his deceptive lifestyle – 32 years later.
He admitted to bigamy at a hearing in May last year but was spared jail by a judge this week, the Mirror reports.
The judge said that though he’d “exploited and abused” the trust of his family, he had only deceived the institution of marriage.
Ingram avoided prison and was given a two-year community order and £450 costs.
He told MailOnline at his home in Kent he had saved the taxpayer money. And while his wife didn’t know he had fathered kids with his step-daughter, he had done it all for the 16-year-old’s benefit.
He said: “‘I’m lucky I did not go to prison. I took a bag (to court). If I had then social services would have had to pick up the bill for looking after my wife.
“She has Alzheimer’s and is also disabled. Not sending me to prison has saved the taxpayer money.”
He added: “The misunderstanding, when my step-daughter left school back in the 80s, you automatically had to go on a training scheme.
“Because she was pregnant we were able to manipulate the situation, where instead of going on to the Youth Training Scheme, she was able to finish early and went straight on to benefits. It made it sound like I benefited .I did it to benefit her.
“The family talk to me. They have forgiven me.”
At the hearing on Monday last week, Jeremy Kingsford, prosecuting, said Ingram had married his wife in January 1983, before wedding his step-daughter five years later. Referring to a police interview following his arrest, Mr Kingsford said: “He admitted the offence and claimed he had married to allow [his step-daughter] to be entitled to additional government benefits.
“He confirmed he had changed his name by deed poll to do this. He told police that [his wife] was present for the wedding ceremony and that when he married [the step-daughter] she was 16 and the relationship was consensual.”
Ingram also admitted in his police interview that his legal wife did not know that he was the biological father of her daughter’s children.
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