A
Nigerian woman, who lied in an attempt to bring two mystery babies
into the UK by pretending she was their biological mother, has
received a suspended prison sentence.
Ijeoma
Udechukwu, 51, of Dante Road, Elephant and Castle, is resident in
this country and tried to trick the British High Commission in Lagos
into granting two passports for the infants.
She
received six months imprisonment, suspended for two years, and was
ordered to peform 180 hours community service work.
Udechukwa
was convicted at Isleworth Crown Court of facilitating unlawful
immigration.
She
applied in Nigeria for passports for the babies – falsely claiming
they were hers – and was unable to produce any genuine ante natal
or delivery notes.
A
DNA test revealed she was not the biological mother of either infant
and the applications were refused.
Udechukwu
returned to the UK leaving the babies in the care of family and
friends.
On
September 4, 2012 officers from Operation Paladin attended
Udechukwa's address where false Nigerian adoption papers were
discovered stating the children had been found abandoned in the
street.
She
refused to answer any questions about her lies to staff at the
British High Commission and also refused to confirm how she came into
possession of the babies or where their biological mother was.
Detective
Constable Tony Foran, from the Metropolitan Police's Sexual
Exploitation Team, said: "This is just one example of the
commitment of officers to investigate offences involving children and
the risk facing them from people willing to deceive authorities and
break the law.
"Adoption
laws and procedures are in place in every country to protect the
welfare and lives of vulnerable children and young people.
“The
conviction of Udechukwu underpins the value of joint working and the
commitment of all those agencies involved to safeguard children."
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