Dudley man tried to eat passport after falsely sitting UK citizenship test
A Black Country 999 operator, Wasim Hussain, tried to consume a fake passport after being caught taking a citizenship test for someone else. The West Midlands ambulance service worker was jailed for eight months after falsely sitting the test.
The 26-year-old sat the test at a Local Learning centre in Derby when his passport caught the eye of suspicious staff, after running it under ultra-violet light they discovered it was fake.
Sarah Slater, prosecuting, told Derby Crown Court, “The member of staff told the defendant she believed the passport was false and that he would not be sitting the citizenship test.
“He became very angry and grabbed the passport from the desk, then tried to leave.
“But the door was locked and he began to kick it. He then began ripping at the passport, pulling off the front page and started to eat the passport.”
Hussain was promised £300 to sit the test from the man who he named in court. The ambulance worker then pled guilty to possession of false identification with improper intention.
Sentencing Hussain, Recorder Martin Jackson QC said, “The possession of a bona-fide British passport gives people the right to certain privileges and those who falsely try to obtain one are undermining the whole system of immigration control.
“You willingly accepted £300 to sit a citizenship test for another person who the prosecution tell me has never been traced.
“Given the need for there to be deterrents for those who try to use false documents and circumvent immigration controls, there can only be one outcome – and that is custody.”
Defence Mohammed Sarwar said Husain’s wife was pregnant with twins and that he was a sole carer for both parents. He added that Hussain was a “valued volunteer” at Dudley Central Mosque, and also produced a letter from the ambulance service, confirming that Hussain would be dismissed if he was jailed.
“This offence took place at a time when he was struggling financially,” Sarwar told the court.
A spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said he could “confirm that disciplinary action has started” after Hussain was jailed.
