​1st gay marriage in UK prison…1 groom jailed for homophobic murder

2015/02/20
Reuters/Michael Dalder

Mark Goodwin, 31, who led a gang that beat up homosexuals, was ordered to serve a minimum of 18 years in 2007 for the homophobic murder of Malcom Benfold, 57.


His co-groom, Mikhail Ivan Gallatinov, 40, was jailed in 1997 for strangling his gay ‘lover’ Adrian Kaminsky, 28, whom he met on a dating site.


After the killing, Gallatinov was stopped on a motorway by police who discovered Kaminsky’s dead body in the back of his car.


Kaminsky’s horrified mother fears Gallatinov will “do something” to her and her daughter if he is ever released, she told a review hearing.


The murder was branded as “chilling” and “well-planned” by Judge Rhys Davies QC, who sentenced Gallatinov to 20 years behind bars.



The killer-couple will be the first homosexual inmates ever to tie the knot in a UK prison at their wedding ceremony next month.


A notice of their marriage was posted at the register office in Beverley.


The couple has reportedly “wanted to tie the knot for several years” and, following last year’s legalization of gay marriage, their marriage application was successfully granted by prison authorities.


Alongside education, freedom of religion and healthcare, marriage is considered a “basic human right.” Therefore, prisoners have had the right to marry in jail since the Marriages Act of 1983.


A Ministry of Justice spokesman said, “We do not comment on individuals. Prisoners are entitled to apply to be married in prison under the Marriages Act 1983. This would take place at no cost to the taxpayer and there is no possibility they would share a cell.”


RT asked social media users whether prisoners should have the right to marry behind bars, eliciting a divergence of views.



One Twitter user told RT that because “prisoners have broken the law and social contracts” they should therefore lose their liberty and have no right to vote or to marry.



Another said murderers should “lose all rights when they break the laws of society,” adding “this is the purpose of detention.”



“Lol, Marry in jail? So what’s the point of going to jail in the first place if not to be deprived of such rights?” another user asked.



“You lose the right to make life decisions when you take the life of someone,” another tweeted to RT.



Others argued that marriage behind bars should indeed be allowed.


“Yes it is their basic human right,” one Twitter user said to RT.


“If they both love each other, then why not?”


Killers should only get married in prison “if they really love each other,” another tweeted.







Have a view? Get involved with our Question More debate on Twitter.


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