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Iraqi immigrant jailed after being found working

3:17pm Tuesday 6th May 2008

comment Comments (21)   Have your say »


AN IRAQI who used a tampered document in order to earn £22,000 has been jailed for six months.

Arf Khader had been barred from looking for work under the terms of his immigration application registration card.

The document was altered to give the impression that he could qualify for employment and he got work as a packer before the truth came to light.

Now the 29-year-old, from Mosul, who spent $5,000 to travel to the UK in the back of a lorry, has been sent to prison.

The judge said the offence struck at the heart of an important immigration system and his actions had been deliberate and fraudulent.

Khader of Audley Range, Blackburn, denied obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception, but was convicted by a jury following atrial.

Preston Crown Court heard that the Iraqi, who came to this country in 2003, had become an illegal immigrant.

He went on to claim asylum and was granted temporary admission to the UK, with certain conditions.

John O'Shea, prosecuting, said one of those conditions was not to enter into employment, paid or unpaid.

This was explained to him at the time by an immigration officer.

Khader was issued with an application registration card.

His claim for asylum failed and all his rights were exhausted by February 2004.

The offence came to light when he applied for a provisional driving licence in January 2006.

His registration card was among documentation that was sent in.

Charles Brown, defending, said Khader came to this country after his father was killed in Iraq.

In sending him to jail, the judge, Recorder William Waldron QC, told him: "That sort of behaviour strikes at the very heart of one very critical part of a system which is very often under public scrutiny."

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school inspector, home says...
3:31pm Tue 6 May 08

Now it cost money to keep him in prison,he should have been put on a plane and deported.

steve, accrington says...
3:38pm Tue 6 May 08

Agree with you school inspector, this guy should have been sent back on the next plane.He`s been here over three years illegaly,what the hell is wrong with these judges?

big t, burnley says...
4:43pm Tue 6 May 08

how many others are there?the countrys on its knees

Bill, Burnley says...
4:55pm Tue 6 May 08

What is wrong is a system that reduces asylum seekers to utter poverty by refusing them either benefits or the right to work, while being unable to reach a swift decision on whether to grant them permanent leave to remain. This is utterly immoral. The work he got as a packer is hardly skilled labour, so it is not as if he was taking a job away from someone who actually wanted it; there are plenty of layabouts in Burnley - including the one who sits begging outside my shop until he has enough for a wrap of smack - who have no interest in actually trying to pay their way, by contrast. And what do we do to this immigrant? We criminalise him for wanting to work hard, and shower him with ignorant, xenophobic comments - like those of the previous three contributos to the forum. Unbelievable.

school inspector, home says...
6:40pm Tue 6 May 08

The man is here illegaly. I find it unbelievable that a tax payer can can support him.

on the fence, yr backyard says...
7:20pm Tue 6 May 08

school inspector wrote:
The man is here illegaly. I find it unbelievable that a tax payer can can support him.
chances are the guy only came here as a result of the INVASION of HIS country by OUR country. Do you find it equally unbelievable that our taxes are being used to fund missiles in a war we have no interest in other than being pally with the yanks??

Jay, Haven't decided says...
7:29pm Tue 6 May 08

how many others are there?the countrys on its knees


There are an estimated 7000 if not more unregistered illegal immigrants presently working in some government, NHS and other 'sensitive' areas of employment.

As to what's wrong with it? This should communicate the essence of the basics of 'what is wrong with it' here:

The document was altered to give the impression that he could qualify for employment and he got work as a packer before the truth came to light.


Deception? Altering documents in order to obtain work falsely, fraudulently? Oh, like I've never heard of that sort of thing before!

Oh, well, that sort of things ok then? Not really. Just because they are an immigrant/asylum seeker does not mean in anyway they can just ignore the laws of the land they end up in.

Fact is too many asylum seekers are doing this. Some are discovered, dozens are not.

Regardless. They sought to obtain employment using deception. Plenty of people in the UK, who ARE qualified in different disciplines have to prove their qualifications to get a job. Why not asylum seekers? Or, at the least, the skills they claim. Before you say it I am all very aware of the fact some may have lost those somewhere along the lines for whatever reasons. However, their country of origin should have a record of any qualifications they studied for *if they did* on file somewhere. Same as we do here, depending upon what qualfications you have.

And you know what? It also makes a farce of the Right To Work process in the UK. For anyone, not just asylum seekers. Facts are these actions just make it worse for any asylum seeker in the same boat. Creates public apathy as a result of their deception(s).

I wonder, Bill, have you actually stopped to ask this person you demonise and asked them about themselves? I am not saying who is right, who is wrong. But you are vociferous in your attacking others for doing the same thing you are. Judging. Well, sorry, but you cannot judge a book by it's cover. How do you know what their life story is? Yet, you can comment on an asylum seeker's life like they are your best friend, know som much about them. Churchgoer are you? Wouldn't surprise me.

Same old same old. As to the person you mention outside your shop. That same system you refer to probably let them down and that's why they have to beg. In order to carry on breathing oxygen. Increasingly, it's what people these days are driven to.

Particularly by a very insular, selfish society and comments like your's Bill.

Because I can tell you what is immoral in this country? Encouraging hate crime against the most vulnerable, poor in society. You call that 'moral??' lol

What a world we have become.

As for me? I don't judge anyone. But I do base my opinions of people on how they behave towards others, how supportive they are. And whether they'd act selfishly or offer a helping hand when someone is in need. In fact, whether they have even the basic component for compassion. Which is missing in today's modern world. Tragically. It got battered into a bloody mess by political correctness then, on the ropes, smashed to pieces by insular principles.

Sorry, no time for it. Nor anyone who cannot be compassionate.

So, next time Bill. Why not ask that 'begger' what there story is?

school inspector, home says...
7:29pm Tue 6 May 08

on the fence wrote:
school inspector wrote: The man is here illegaly. I find it unbelievable that a tax payer can can support him.
chances are the guy only came here as a result of the INVASION of HIS country by OUR country. Do you find it equally unbelievable that our taxes are being used to fund missiles in a war we have no interest in other than being pally with the yanks??
Chances are the guy came here to screw the system.True we invaded the country on lies from a useless government but it doesnt mean we have to bring them all over to england.

Jay, Can't make my mind up says...
7:32pm Tue 6 May 08

As for the war ... etc ... War is wrong. Simple. Talking is good. Except some don't wanna talk they just wanna make war. Viscious circle.

Some only understand war. Some understand talking. That's why chess was invented by the way. Outta here.

phil, burnley says...
7:55pm Tue 6 May 08

school inspector wrote:
on the fence wrote:
school inspector wrote: The man is here illegaly. I find it unbelievable that a tax payer can can support him.
chances are the guy only came here as a result of the INVASION of HIS country by OUR country. Do you find it equally unbelievable that our taxes are being used to fund missiles in a war we have no interest in other than being pally with the yanks??
Chances are the guy came here to screw the system.True we invaded the country on lies from a useless government but it doesnt mean we have to bring them all over to england.
They wont all come over because we blew a lot of them up.

school inspector, home says...
9:39pm Tue 6 May 08

phil wrote:
school inspector wrote:
on the fence wrote:
school inspector wrote: The man is here illegaly. I find it unbelievable that a tax payer can can support him.
chances are the guy only came here as a result of the INVASION of HIS country by OUR country. Do you find it equally unbelievable that our taxes are being used to fund missiles in a war we have no interest in other than being pally with the yanks??
Chances are the guy came here to screw the system.True we invaded the country on lies from a useless government but it doesnt mean we have to bring them all over to england.
They wont all come over because we blew a lot of them up.
problem is the ones that are left might blow us up.

FRANK, BB6 says...
10:25pm Tue 6 May 08

Looks like the residents of Audley have been teaching him a thing or too,shame it wasnt something legal

Pete, Darwen says...
10:36pm Tue 6 May 08

i've done some work with the courts. what happens when an illegal is found guilty? that's right, he's let out of court (or prison if applicable when the sentence has ended) and told to leave no country. not marched to the dock or airport but just told to leave asap. then the magistrates wonder why they don't and keep reappearing. labour - soft on criminals.

Burnley Taxpayer, Burnley says...
1:49pm Wed 7 May 08

Wait till we get round to sorting out Iran and North Korea!

templar, uk says...
1:50pm Wed 7 May 08

At least the man was working,and prison should not have been the last resort, the judge is a fool and i bet he lets off more child offenders than people who obtain money by working for it i say the judge is a fool.

justice, court 1 says...
3:01pm Wed 7 May 08

templar wrote:
At least the man was working,and prison should not have been the last resort, the judge is a fool and i bet he lets off more child offenders than people who obtain money by working for it i say the judge is a fool.
I say you are a fool,the guys a criminal illegal immigrant.
DEPORT HIM.

soap opera, coronation st says...
9:50pm Wed 7 May 08

if they checked all the takeaways in blackburn for llegal workers how many would still be open

bystander, lancs says...
10:27pm Wed 7 May 08

Sent to prison for working? Why not send him home?

here and now, BLACKBURN says...
5:14pm Sun 18 May 08

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mona, blackburn says...
2:01pm Mon 19 May 08

so many iraqis and iranis working in darwen street,all illegal,get rid of them all

sal, audley says...
2:04am Wed 28 May 08

well i really am not shocked yes he was an illegal immigrant trying to earn a living.

i give him credit at least he did not steal or beg.

yes his country is in a war where we are sending in our troops.

if we get out and sort the country leave after replacing what we torn apart then maybe these llegal immigrants will go back to their homelands and they will have no reason to be here.

as far as the comment about them coming here to bomb us is so far fetched because these people are so friendly and in all honesty given half a chance we can learn from them.

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