A Sri Lankan man who falsely used a Belgian ID document to get into Britain was caught out after applying for a driving licence.
Edgar Warnakulasuriya, 40, had already left the UK once after entering the country illegally.
But three years later he re-entered using a false Belgian ID card after paying £15,000 to a man to organise his trip from Sri Lanka.
He said he had fled the country because he feared he would be persecuted because of his links to the political group the Tamil Tigers.
Kevin Jones, prosecuting at Swansea Crown Court, said the offence came to light after Warnakulasuriya had applied for a driving licence to the DVLA on March 28.
Mr Jones said staff at the DVLA were not satisfied with the photocopy of the Belgian document and wrote to him asking for more information. When he did not reply they contacted police.
Officers from the UK Borders Agency then visited his home at Gwylfa Road, Swansea. His wife answered the door but said she was home alone with her children, but officers became suspicious after hearing a noise inside.
When Warnakulasuriya eventually went to the door, he continued to deny his real name, but in his later interview he admitted his real identity.
Warnakulasuriya told officers he had travelled through Europe from Sri Lanka before arriving in the UK on March 22.
Mr Jones said: “He accepts he knew he was here illegally.”
David James, representing Warnakulasuriya, said his client, a father of three, had previously lived in the UK but had an application for asylum refused in 2009. He was removed in 2010 but returned last March.
He said after his return to Sri Lanka, he had been arrested when he landed and was put into prison.
After his uncle secured his release, he then decided to gain illegal entry to the UK once more because he missed his wife and children, said Mr James.
“He was desperate to be reunited with his wife and family and avoid what he saw as the persecution he would inevitably face,” said Mr James.
Judge Keith Thomas said the courts had to hand down tough sentences for people who enter the country illegally.
“It undermines the security of the country as a whole,” he said.
Warnakulasuriya, who admitted possessing an identity document with improper intention, was jailed for 10 months.
Source: South Wales Evening Post
