Marc Dougherty

Marc Dougherty, a 52-year-old from Newton-le-Willows, UK, appeared before Liverpool Crown Court after pleading guilty to bigamy.

Key Facts and Dates:

• Dougherty married his first wife in 2006.
• He applied for a divorce from his first wife in 2020, but the divorce was not legally finalized as he did not receive both a decree nisi and a decree absolute.
• In July 2024, Dougherty traveled to Nevada with another woman, Pamela Lewis, and applied for a marriage license, falsely claiming he was legally divorced.
• On July 4, 2024, he married Ms. Lewis in Nelson Ghost Town, Las Vegas, Nevada.
• His bigamy was discovered when his mother-in-law from his legal marriage saw pictures of his second wedding on Facebook and reported them to the police.
• Dougherty was subsequently arrested and continued to claim he had legal divorce documentation, which did not exist.
• He appeared before Liverpool Crown Court on June 8, 2026.

Court Decisions:

• Dougherty pleaded guilty to bigamy.
• The court heard that he had 11 previous convictions for 16 offenses.
• Judge Louise Brandon noted that Dougherty appeared to "minimize the offense."
• He was sentenced to eight weeks' imprisonment, suspended for 12 months.
• He was also ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and pay £1,000 towards court costs. The judge warned that breaching the order would result in serving the eight weeks' imprisonment.