AN Iranian asylum seeker was forced to survive for over a week on cornflakes and water at his Darwen flat after his charitable hand-outs were stopped, a court heard.

His solicitor, Basharat Ditta, told Blackburn magistrates that Iman Farsi, 23, of Woodvale Flats, had been forced into stealing a chicken sandwich from Marks and Spencer because he was starving.

"He had no heating or light in his flat and was living an existence that I find astonishing," said Mr Ditta.

"Mr Farsi sought sanctuary in this country after being prosecuted, persecuted and beaten in his own country. He then found himself in a situation where he had to steal to eat. Nobody was able to help him and it beggars belief that in this country, in this day and age, a person can be abandoned in this way.

"Something needs to be done to change a system which allows asylum seekers in and then effectively abandons them."

Farsi admitted stealing a sandwich worth £2.30 and was fined £60, but the magistrates said this would be set against the time he had spent in custody when arrested.