A judge has warned a conman that he might be deported after being caught in Bradford with a false driving licence and fraudulent bank card.
Damilare Awobona, 21, who came to the UK when he was 12 after he was orphaned, appeared in front of Bradford Crown Court by video link from Leeds Prison yesterday.
He pleaded guilty to possession of a false driving licence on September 28 last year and fraudulent use of a bank card at Tesco in Great Horton, Bradford.
Awobona was on prison licence at the time of the offences.
His plea of not guilty to assaulting the store’s security manager was accepted by the Crown.
Awobona was jailed for 16 months by Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC, who heard he was an illegal overstayer in the UK. “The Home Office, I am sure, will be looking at your status and they will give consideration to your deportation,” the judge said.
Prosecutor Mehran Nassiri told the court that Awobona used a fake bank card to buy contracts on two BlackBerry phones in Tesco in Brighouse.
He was challenged by security staff at the Bradford Tesco when he tried to pull the same scam using a false name and the bogus card.
He gave addresses in Sheffield and London when committing the offences and said he was staying with relatives in Bradford.
When he tried to flee the store, he was grabbed by the head of security and, in the tussle, the false driving licence fell out of his pocket. The bogus bank card was found on him.
The security officer was detained in hospital overnight for breathlessness and bruised ribs, the court was told.
Awobona’s solicitor advocate, Michael Reeves, said he came to the UK to live with his sister after their parents died.
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