An illegal immigrant, who hijacked an ex-pat's identity and got away with a £47,000 bogus benefits claim for ten years, was jailed for sixteen months yesterday.
Jamaican-born Annette Harrison, 45, was refused leave to remain in the UK after arriving in 2001, but successfully used another woman's birth certificate to illegally claim taxpayers' money and educate her daughter, who arrived with her.
Harrison, of Warwick Road, Thornton Heath pleaded guilty at Croydon Crown Court to five counts of making false statements and representations to obtain benefit, namely jobseekers allowance, and housing and council tax benefit from May 2002.
The scam was exposed when the real Colette Williams, 37, - whose identity the defendant had successfully used for a decade - applied for a British passport in Washington DC.
"The passport matching that birth certificate was issued by the British Embassy," explained prosecutor Mr. Richard Doman. "That rang alarm bells and video evidence of the defendant was compared to the passport photo."
On February 28 Harrison's flat was raided and the Department for Work and Pensions found correspondence in her true identity.
She continued to insist she was the true Colette Williams and told investigators her twenty year-old daughter was her niece. Both have now been served with Home Office deportation papers.
No record was found of Harrison (pictured) entering the UK legally and while claiming benefits she obtained £47,592, mostly made up of jobseekers and housing benefit payments.
"Right from the beginning benefits have been claimed under a false identity," added Mr. Doman. "The real Colette Williams is angry and frustrated because of this.
"There is a black mark against her name on the computers of every government agency and she will be flagged up whenever she comes back to this country.
"She now has atrocious credit in the UK and to use her words she feels her 'life has been taken away' from her."
Harrison's identity had been questioned by the department for two years before the passport evidence.
"It was met by a wall of insistence by this defendant that she was Colette Williams."
Harrison's lawyer Mr. Yogain Chandarana said his client had been targeted by identity fraudsters, telling the court: "There are people who will prey upon those who live in the grey or black economy to provide them with the documents they need."
He said Harrison lived rough with her daughter for two years after arriving in the UK and were then offered shelter by a man, who inflicted "physical and sexual abuse."
"She got hold of these identity documents to try and put a roof over her and her daughter's head and knew there was a time bomb above her, but felt she had no other alternative.
"She has lived within that dark economy, trying to keep her head below the radar, leading a difficult life.
"In this country she has not shoplifted, robbed or stolen, apart from us the taxpayers."
Recorder Niall Quinn QC told Harrison, who sobbed throughout the hearing: "When you came to this country you found yourself in difficulties and fell into the company of people who were professional benefit and identity fraudsters.
"I do not regard your offending in the top. most serious category, but the transactions were fraudulent from the beginning and you knew you were not entitled to those benefits and it continued for ten years.
"Another aggravating feature is that it involves identity theft and has caused stress to the genuine Colette Williams."
No order was made for compensation or costs.
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