LONDON – A mother who duped her daughter into travelling to Pakistan toenter a forced marriage was sentenced on Wednesday to four-and-a-half yearsin prison, following the first successful prosecution of its kind inBritain.

The woman was found guilty on Tuesday following a trial at Birmingham CrownCourt, in central England, where a jury heard how the girl sobbed as shewas wedded to a male relative 16 years her senior.

“You had cruelly deceived her. She was frightened, alone, held against herwill, being forced into a marriage she dreaded,” said Judge Patrick ThomasQC in sentencing.

“You have sought to blame her for everything, and yourself have acceptedresponsibility for nothing.”

The girl was forced to marry the same man who had taken her virginity andleft her pregnant on an earlier trip to Pakistan.