Is Bigamy Now Acceptable In Scotland?

Daily Hysteria Mail headline:

Muslim is spared a speeding ban so he can drive between his two wives

What’s gone on here, according to the Mail?:

…Mohammed Anwar said a ban would make it difficult to commute between his two wives and fulfil his matrimonial duties…

…His lawyer told a Scottish court the Muslim restaurant owner has one wife in Motherwell and another in Glasgow – he is allowed up to four under his religion – and sleeps with them on alternate nights.

What his religion recognizes in this instance is civilly irrelevant. Indeed, under British law he is entitled to have any number of girlfriends he may successfully juggle. And best of luck to him on that score.

He also needed his driving licence to run his restaurant in Falkirk, Stirlingshire.

Airdrie Sheriff Court had heard that Anwar was caught driving at 64mph in a 30mph zone in Glasgow, fast enough to qualify for instant disqualification.

In the end, he didn’t lose his license:

Anwar admitted the offence, but Sheriff John C. Morris accepted his plea not to be banned and allowed him to keep his licence…

Legally, however, we had all thought one can still have only one spouse. True, the other aspect of the defense offered was he needed his license to run his restaurant; but it appears that the secondary argument of his marriages was also taken into consideration — “…Lorna Jackson, from the road safety charity Brake … said: “Regardless of the number of wives or businesses this man drives to, he broke a law which is there to protect everyone…” — in arriving at the sentence.

The Daily Record of Scotland points out:

…defence lawyers are perfectly entitled to put forward any argument they like in court.

But whether the court takes it seriously is another matter.

In this case, Anwar was allowed to keep his licence.

But we sincerely hope this was because he had a previously clean driving record and not because of his marital situation…

Yes, we sure do hope so. But in not refuting Mr Anwar’s lawyer’s assertion terming the two women in his client’s life being his “wives”, that Airdrie Sheriff Court inadvertently may have just set an interesting precedent: it appears to have implicitly accepted civil bigamy.

One can only also imagine the liberal media fainting spell that would take place from the likes of the, say, BBC, if a local court in Utah accepted such an argument and ruled in that manner. However, the Archbishop of Canterbury is likely pleased. Especially in terms of polygamy, and asserting religious law as a defense for doing 64 in a 30 mile zone, the above seems like a healthy and mundane real life “teasing out” on how Britain does not “…have a standoff between two rival legal systems when we discuss Islamic and British law…”