KEY POINTS:
The girlfriend of a man charged with bigamy is standing by her lover - saying police have made a mistake.
Northland woman Anna Benson, who has been in a relationship with James Hartley Kelly for the past two years, said her man had done "nothing wrong and I love him".
Kelly, a United Kingdom national, was arrested in July 2005 and charged with the rare offence of bigamy following claims he was still married to Scottish woman Mary Farmer when he tied the knot with now 61-year-old Lower Hutt clothing machinist Georgina Mason in 1989.
Kelly, 50, failed to turn up at a jury trial last June.
After nine months on the run he was arrested last week at Benson's farm in Helmsdale, Waipu, about half an hour south of Whangarei.
Benson, 49, told the Herald on Sunday yesterday that Kelly never intended to "mislead anyone, he just forgot about going through the divorce process, I think". She described him as "caring, kind and gentle", and said: "He is trying to get his life back on track."
It's a case that has got tongues wagging in the small kumara town of Dargaville where Kelly is known for his way with the ladies. Locals claim that over the years the charming good-natured Scotsman has managed to talk his way into the hearts of several women in the area.
Some have been left with broken hearts; others are just plain angry with the Celtic Casanova.
But it is his marriage to Farmer in Edinburgh in September 1977 that has attracted police attention.
The couple had a daughter and son, but split in 1983. The Crown alleges they did not divorce.
Three years later Kelly emigrated to New Zealand where he met and married Mason.
He has never returned to the UK.
At first Kelly and Mason appeared to be a happy couple.
A structural engineer by trade, Kelly went into business with his new wife, forming the now defunct Siteweld Engineering Ltd.
But according to the Crown case, Mason later became suspicious that Kelly wasn't quite the man of her dreams and could have had another wife back in his homeland.
Police investigated and, satisfied Kelly was still legally married to Farmer, charged him with bigamy, an offence which carries a maximum jail term of seven years.
The Family Court has since ruled Kelly's marriage to Mason is invalid.
Kelly was born in the Scottish city of Edinburgh to businessman Ross Hartley Kelly and his wife Isabella.
Kelly senior died in December, two months after visiting his son in New Zealand. On his trip to Northland, Kelly and his son rediscovered their love for horse riding, spending hours on horseback at Waipu's North River Treks.
This was where the sickness beneficiary was living with his most recent partner, Anna Benson. Police arrested Kelly there after a tip-off.
Georgina Mason refused to speak to the Herald on Sunday last week about the case, or her former husband.
She still lives in the home she once shared with Kelly in the Lower Hutt suburb of Maungaraki.
After Kelly's marriage to Mason fell apart, it is understood he divided most of his time between Wellington and towns in Northland.
One of his favourite spots was the Phillips family dairy farm in Dargaville, where he stored his possessions and sometimes lived.
Mark Phillips and his partner Mallika Tuwondsa have fond memories of the balding Scotsman and were surprised at news of his arrest. "He was a good man with a good heart," Tuwondsa said.
Kelly had kept in contact with the couple, writing from Ngawha Prison where he is on remand until a bail hearing on April 20.
Kelly maintains his innocence and has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Internal Affairs spokesman Tony Wallace said the the Department could reverse Kelly's citizenship if it was proved that he was married to two women when he was granted citizenship.
THE BIGAMY FILES - FROM THE HERALD FILES
* 8 July 1931, 'Forgotten Wives. Husbands who remarry'
"The problem of dealing with the man who contracts a second marriage in defiance of his maintenance obligations to his first wife and family is one which is causing concern in Auckland, where the practice is becoming increasingly frequent."
* 23 March 1939, 'Gaol for bigamy'
William George Alexander told the court: "I do not think I have done any harm to anyone. In regard to this bigamy case, I think I provided for her to be quite comfortable and also my previous wife. I have provided for both ladies."
* 24 November 1955, 'Prison sentence for naval bigamist'
"On a charge of bigamy, Norman Parker, aged 34, naval cook, was sentenced in the Auckland Magistrate's Court yesterday to three months' imprisonment. The magistrate commented that bigamy was not a passing indiscretion but a serious offence against public morality."
