A jailed Nigerian illegal immigrant and fraudster may escape deportation from Britain when he finishes his sentence

Megi Rychlikova:

A JAILED illegal immigrant and fraudster may escape deportation when he finishes his sentence - following a decision by York's most senior judge.

The Recorder of York, Judge Paul Hoffman, decided against recommending that Nigerian Teslim Raji be kicked out of the country, because he had "no confidence anyone would take any notice".

Tom Storey, prosecuting, said Raji, 22, had details of 200 people's bank cards and used some of them 46 times to get groceries, alcohol, mobile phones and other items from Tesco's online store.

The Home Office had served a deportation notice on him so he could be sent back to Nigeria if Mr Hoffman wanted it.

But the judge did not, although he locked Raji up for 15 months.

"I will not make a recommendation for deportation," he said. "Even if I did, I would have no confidence that anyone would take any notice of it."

He admitted that it was very tempting to send Raji back to his native country.

"We have enough home grown criminals not to need any more from other places," he said.

But the Home Office today revealed that immigration services can still initiate action itself - should it wish to pursue deportation.

Raji had been 16 when he came to England, had family in England, and but for the ID fraud offences had apparently led a law-abiding and useful life in England.

Raji, no fixed address, pleaded guilty to 46 charges of deception or attempted deception.

His barrister, Jim Withyman, said he had been born in Lagos and came to England when he was 16.

He had lived in London until his visa ran out in December 2005, when he had moved to Scarborough.

He was currently studying for an international business degree at Hull University's Scarborough campus.

A "friend of a cousin", who knew he was in the country, illegally provided the bank card details and put pressure on him to use them fraudulently on the internet.

Mr Storey said staff at Tesco's Scarborough store started checking when several people complained that their cards were being used without their knowledge to buy items. They refused 25 of Raji's purchases but he got another 21 through, including one to Argos, and "bought" £4,400 worth of items. He was tracked down because although he had used different names including his own for the different online orders, he had got the goods delivered to the same address.

When police raided his room in a hotel in West Road, Scarborough, they found some of the purchases and an email with 200 bank card numbers and their owners' names.

A Home Office spokesman said: "The judiciary is independent and it is not appropriate for us to comment on an individual case.

"Just because a judge has failed to recommend deportation, it doesn't mean that the immigration services will not initiate action against an individual themselves.

"Every foreign national prisoner which the Immigration Nationality Directorate is notified of is now subject to appropriate consideration before release and we will pursue deportation where appropriate."

You almost get the impression that the British like having foreign criminals operating in their country.