Ref. 25620-3A WOMAN walked free from court after being acquitted of burgling the lodgings of the Kenyan man she wed in a sham marriage.

Swindon Crown Court heard that 29-year-old Candice Montgomery got married to Ken Diamo for a fee of £3,000. But when he only came up with a third of the cash, the jury was told she decided to steal goods to the value of the debt from the house where her estranged husband was staying in Grange Park.

Montgomery denied committing burglary and theft and following a two-day trial, she was cleared yesterday of both charges.

As she left court on her way back to a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre in Drox-ford, Hampshire she told the Advertiser: "I am pleased that the jury made the right decision.

Montgomery was accused of burgling the home in Simnel Close, Grange Park, between April 28 and May 1, 2003, when a DVD player, a mobile telephone, a television and a quantity of cash went missing.

Prosecuting barrister Colin Meeke, told the jury that on April 24, 2001, Montgomery had agreed to marry Ken Diamo, a Kenyan national for money.

"It was a sham marriage to enable him to stay in the country.

"For £3,000 she agreed to marry him. She got the first £1,000 in dribs and drabs, but failed to receive the rest.

"She went to his home one night, let herself through the back door, helped herself to property inside and sold it to a drug dealer." The owner of the house where Ken Diamo was staying, Okyay Mehmet , told the court that he had returned home to see someone leaning out of his dining room window.

"It was a skinny man with dark hair. He had an Asian appearance. He was leaning out and as soon as he saw me, he went back inside."

After finding that the front door to the property was shut from the inside, Mr Mehmet entered his home via the back garden.

"I immediately noticed that the television was missing. I searched all around but could not find the person who had taken it."

On further examination he found that a DVD player, a stereo remote control unit, a water bottle filled with£40 to £45 worth of change and a mobile telephone were missing.

Under cross-examination Mr Mehmet admitted to defence barrister Marcus Davey, that he had not seen anyone else in the property. He also agreed that he had never seen Montgomery before her court appearance and that the intruder he saw in his home did not look like her.

As the foreman of the jury returned the not guilty verdict, Montgomery, who was wearing a dark suit and purple blouse remained impassive.

After Judge Tom Longbotham told her she was free to go, she stepped from the dock to be hugged by friends and family.