A charity worker who spent £5,000 bringing his new Jamaican bride to the UK was left heartbroken after she abandoned him within 20 minutes of walking through his front door.
Johnny Gannon spent thousands arranging a visa for 24-year-old Patrice Chambers so they could live in marital bliss in his council flat in Perth, Scotland.
But as soon as Patrice arrived in Perth, she sent trusting Mr Gannon, 57, out to buy Pot Noodles. When he returned she grabbed her bags and told him she was going.
Within 20 minutes of arriving through his front door she had flagged down a car and caught a train. He found out she had also run up a £500 bill on his mobile phone.
Heartbroken Mr Gannon, who married Patrice in Jamaica early this year, believes his new wife fled to Bristol to meet a Jamaican boyfriend with whom she had organised the scheme.
He told the Daily Mirror: ‘I was looking forward to spending the rest of my life with Patrice but I think she had planned all along to do this.
‘My relationship with her wasn’t something I’d done by mail order. I’ve known her for two years and it seemed very much like the real thing to me. She has used me and I feel humiliated.
‘I had a vision of happiness laid out. I feel like a bit of a fool.’
Mr Gannon takes regular holidays in Jamaica and met Patrice there two years ago.
A friend set them up on a blind date but despite the 33-year age gap he fell in love with her after their first meeting in a romantic bar in the resort of Treasure Beach.
As the couple watched dophins playing in the water he believed he had found the girl of his dreams.
‘She ran a little bar and I’d hang out with her there,’ he said. ‘She was intelligent and I myself thought she had the potential to be a great life partner.
‘Of course I was pinching myself over how lucky I’d been to end up with such a beautiful young woman. But the relationship was getting better over time so I wasn’t suspecting any kind of sting operation.’
He heard from a friend that she had a boyfriend back in the UK but when challenged she said it was in the past.
His love for her meant that he trusted her and he continued to see her on trips to Jamaica.
In fact, it was her who first brought up the subject of marriage and a ceremony was organised on one of his trips to the country.
He had paid for her dress and hair on the big day and when he returned to Scotland worked on getting a visa for her.
In the end he sent her £700 for paperwork in Jamaica and even more money when she said it had been stolen.
This year alone he has spent more than £4,000 on her.
Friends met the couple off the plane and they flew to Edinburgh to start their new life together but she told him she didn’t want to be with him and when he returned from shopping for her he took her to the railway station.
He has reported her to police and plans to contact the UK Border Agency and now he is considering how he will tell his mother.
