Illegal immigrant locked up for £100,000 benefits swindle

Lillian Wade flew from Jamaica to Gatwick Airport in 1999 but was only granted temporary admission into the UK on the condition she flew back the next day, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

But the 55-year-old, who lived at an address in Tipton, absconded and it was more than 14 years before she was caught.

During her time in the UK, she managed to fraudulently get two British passports and a job as a cleaner for Sandwell Council, where she worked for around four years, earning almost £30,000.

Mr Howard Searle, prosecuting, said an injury led to her leaving the role, but she went on to claim £99,729 in incapacity benefit, income support, employment and support allowance and disability living allowance.

The court heard that Wade began working for the council, using the identity of Yvette Logan, in 2000, and later claimed benefits using the same name.

The court heard her benefits claim prompted the Department for Work and Pensions to contact a woman called Yvette Logan who lived in London and also claimed benefits.

An investigation was carried out but Wade was given a new National Insurance number after it was thought there had been a mix-up.

The court heard that Wade fraudulently got a passport in the name of Katherine Dunnaway, but later sent in an application with a photograph of herself for a passport in the name of Yvette Logan.

Mr Searle said the real Yvette Logan had been traced and had citizenship, adding: "She was not aware her details were being used by Wade."

The court heard that there were suspicions about Wade's identity by 2013 and police asked to see her ID.

She handed over the passport in the name of Yvette Logan but was not arrested until November last year, after the Department for Work and Pensions carried out further investigations.

Further documents were found which led to Wade's true identity being revealed.

Mr Searle said Wade, who had lived in Sedgley Road East, Tipton, was not entitled to benefits and would likely be deported after serving her sentence.

Wade, who appeared via video link from Eastwood Park prison in Gloucestershire, admitted obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception by falsely representing she was a British citizen entitled to work in the UK and cheating the public revenue.

She also admitted being in possession of an identity document with improper intention and possession of a false identity document with intent, relating to the passports.

Mr Benjamin Williams, mitigating, said Wade had arrived in the country with £300 in her pocket and the benefit claims were made after a 'genuine injury'.

He said: "She came to this country in search of a better life."

Sentencing her to four years in prison, Judge Helen Hughes told her: "This was fraudulent behaviour from the outset.

"You knew from the day you left the airport you shouldn't be in this country."