AN ILLEGAL immigrant who used a forged passport to work for a care company for eight years has been jailed.

Aderemi Adepoju, of Owens Way, Temple Cowley, Oxford, admitted using a false passport, obtaining a financial advantage through deception, and fraud.

It is estimated he earned about £150,000 over eight years while working for Paterson Health and Social Care, in Bicester, caring for adults with learning difficulties.

Originally from Lagos in Nigeria, the 44-year-old defendant used a forged passport to come to England in 2003. He was stopped at Heathrow Airport by customs officials who gave him a date to come back and be removed from the country, which he did not attend.

Adepoju started working for the healthcare firm in 2005, after showing his employer his false passport and a false National Insurance number.

John Waller, defending, said: “He has worked extremely hard in this country since he has arrived.

“He has no previous convictions in this country since he has been here and the papers seem to suggest he has been paying his taxes as well.

“He has been making a life for himself in the UK, but he knows how serious his offences are.”

Judge Gordon Risius sentenced him to 18 months in prison yesterday at Oxford Crown Court.

He said: “You earned a substantial amount of money when you were not entitled to work.”

Adepoju will be detained by the immigration authorities on his release.