Illegal immigrant got job at Coventry Airport
13.03.07
A Zimbabwean living illegally in Britain got a job at Coventry Airport as a security officer, with access to restricted areas at the airport. Malcolm Masina presented a forged letter to a Coventry employment agency stating he had indefinite leave to remain the country.
At Warwick Crown Court, 24-year-old Masina was jailed for eight months after pleading guilty to possessing a false identity document and obtaining employment by deception. The judge recommended he should be deported after serving his sentence - on the condition Britain has restarted deportation to the country.
Masina arrived in Britain from Zimbabwe in 2002, and was given a visa to remain until June 2003. Twice he applied to extend the visa and twice he was refused. In 2004 he applied for a job through the Workforce agency in Coventry. He produced his passport, his college identification and a letter surposedly from the Home Office allowing him to remain in the country indefinitely. In court he admitted the letter was false and has confessed to paying £300 for it.
Immigration officers arrested Masina at Coventry Airport, where he was working as a security gate officer. His job on car park security gave him access to some 'red pass' restricted areas at the airport. Officers searched his home and found a second forged Home Office letter, which he admitted to purchasing.
A Coventry Airport spokeswoman for said they had received the required documentation from the employment agency. A spokeswoman for Workforce Direct, the employment agency said: 'As an employment agency we carry out stringent checks on all of our staff and had no reason to suspect Mr Masina had supplied false documentation.'
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