Lamin Manneh from Heckmondwike jailed for over six years

Lamin Manneh was described by one of his customers as “a renowned figure” who had been a freedom fighter in his homeland and who may have assisted more than 300 people to come in to the UK.

He was traced after his bank details and phone number were linked to another Gambian national apprehended by immigration authorities, and who had paid money to Manneh.

Sentencing Manneh at Bradford Crown Court His Honour Judge Colin Burn described him as “the principal driver” and “the go-to person” at the heart of an organised effort to subvert the immigration system by using forged documents for payment.

Prosecutor Jade Bucklow said Manneh, 49, of Stubley Road, Heckmondwike, used the nickname Marcus112 when dealing with people who paid sometimes thousands of pounds for forged passports, permits, and immigration visas.

One man arrived at Manchester Airport from Gambia on February 15 this year with both a current Gambian passport and an expired passport that contained a “well-worn” indefinite leave to remain visa and a photograph that appeared to have been tampered with and “stuck on”.

A UK residence permit, UK entry clearance, and UK immigration officer stamp were all forged.

Miss Bucklow described it as “a quite sophisticated alteration”.

Deleted screenshots of conversations about payment with Manneh were recovered from the man’s phone along with details of his entry flight into the UK.

On the day he flew into Manchester, there were multiple messages between Manneh and the man’s sister, who was acting as a go-between, plus payments totalling £1,700 from her into Manneh’s bank account.

A week earlier, another Gambian national had arrived at Manchester Airport with two passports in a similar format but under a different name. Both passports were genuine, but the image had been changed.

Manchester Airport (Image: PA)

The man, who has since been jailed for 10 months, named Manneh as the person who had arranged his travel to the UK plus details of a bank account in Manneh’s name into which he had paid money.

He was also found with a piece of paper containing Manneh’s phone number.

The court heard that he had paid £2,300 to initiate his travel to the UK and then spoke to Manneh, who went by the name of Marcus, before meeting his agents in Gambia.

Miss Bucklow said: “The defendant himself advised [him] that he was in the process of making his travel documentation."

She said the man "appears at some stage to have had concerns and used his own contacts within the police to try and find out who the identity of Marcus was".

“That’s when he learned that Marcus was the nickname for the defendant and that he was quite a renowned figure and was considered a freedom fighter in Gambia," Miss Bucklow added.

She said he "was of the understanding that the defendant had assisted a significant number of people, around 300, with entry into the UK". 

The man then paid more money to cover travel and airport access in Gambia. The total was around £5,200 with around £650 going to Manneh.

Passports were found during a search of Manneh’s home but when he was interviewed he denied all knowledge of the other man.

The case was heard at Bradford Crown Court (Image: Newsquest)

He later pleaded guilty to facilitating the commission of a breach of UK immigration law by a non-UK national by supplying forged documents.

Miss Bucklow said Manneh had a leading role in an operation to assist the unlawful immigration of strangers into the UK for financial gain as there were agents and middle-men involved.

Mitigating, Sukhdev Garcha said Manneh, a married man with four children, accepted that “he has brought this upon himself.”

However he said Manneh was working in conjunction with others rather than getting people to work for him, and that the financial benefits to him were not significant.

He said sticking photographs onto passports showed the activity was “far from sophisticated” and that there was “no evidential basis” for the claim that Manneh had assisted hundreds of people to enter the UK.

Manneh, who appeared via video link from HMP Leeds, was sentenced to six years and four months imprisonment by Judge Burn, who said: “There’s no doubt that you played a leading role in this organisation and that you were the person referred to as Marcus.

“You were the principal mover.

“There was a comprehensive attempt to mirror what would be legitimate documentation even though the attempt was not at the height of sophistication.

“The courts have been very clear in cases of attempts to subvert the immigration system that sentences should be substantial.”