Cleaner used faked documents to get hotel jobs (From Warrington Guardian)

Cleaner used faked documents to get hotel jobs

9:00am Thursday 28th February 2013 in News

Warrington Crown Court

A CLEANER used fake documents to help him get a job at a town centre hotel.

Bedi Chukwudi Obi, of Brighton Street, Bewsey, used a fake letter and passport to say he was allowed to stay in the UK.

But the Nigerian national was not permitted to stay in the country after travelling to the UK illegally.

Warrington Crown Court heard on Monday how Obi had previously been questioned by the authorities after moving to the UK in 2003 following a failed asylum request in Germany.

Mike Stephenson, prosecuting, said: “He first came to the attention of the authoritites as long ago as May 20, 2006 and was arrested by immigration officers as someone in the country illegally.

“By December that year he had absconded from his order to register where he was.”

Last year immigration officials caught up with him in Warrington and on a search of his home officers found wage slips from The Village Hotel, based on Centre Park.

“It turned out he had been employed as a cleaner from May 2010 to when he resigned in October 2012,” added Mr Stephenson.

“In order to obtain employment to prove his eligability to be in the UK he produced two documents which were both fraudulent.

“The first is a letter from the Home Office saying he had indefinite leave to live in the UK and there was a photocopy of a fraudulent passport.”

The court heard pleading guilty to obtaining false records was Obi’s only blemish on his record.

Frances Willmott, defending, said: “He wanted to be safe and has got his head down and worked. His partner is also due to give birth at the end of the next month.”

The documents had come from someone Obi described as his ‘guardian angel’.

Obi has also applied for UK residency on human rights grounds and the decision on whether he can stay is set to be taken at a later date.

Sentencing him to six months in prison Judge Roger Dutton said: “Those who do this when caught must realise when caught they will be dealt with seriously.”