TWO killers who were convicted of homophobic hate crimes
have tied the knot in the UK’s first same-sex prison wedding.
Marc Goodwin and
Mikhail Gallatinov, who are currently serving time in HMP Full Sutton, East
Yorkshire, were married in a brief 15-minute ceremony on Friday.
The marriage
sparked fury from the victim’s families who say they should have been consulted
before authorities allowed the marriage to take place.
Goodwin was
sentenced to life in prison for kicking and punching Malcolm Benfold, 57, to
death on Blackpool seafront in 2007 in a gay hate crime.
Convicted
paedophile Gallatinov, 40 was jailed for the murder of Adrian Kaminsky, 28, in
Manchester in 1997 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
It is
understood the pair met in the prison library and four family members were in attendance for
the brief ceremony, The Telegraph reported.
They sealed the
union with a kiss and cake which they cut with a small plastic knife and
exchanged personal vows claiming they were “soul partners” and would be
“forever together”, The Mirror reported.
They then
exchanged identical metal wedding bands they
purchased — with prison permission — from a mail-order catalogue.
But Tony
Benfold, a brother of one of the victims, said his family continued to suffer
while the men “did whatever they wanted”.
“How can you go
out and kill a man for being gay and then have a gay wedding in prison? I can’t
see any logic in it,” he said.
“The other chap
has only got 12 months left before his parole hearing while my brother’s killer
has to serve another 10 years.”
However,
Gallatinov’s mother Christina Williams, said she was “proud” of her son for
making history with the wedding.
While the couple
may be legally married, the Ministry of Justice confirmed the men would not be
sharing a cell.
Same sex
marriage became legal in the UK in March last year.
Goodwin and
Gallatinov have reportedly been wanting to get married for some time and
convinced authorities to allow the wedding to take place.
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