Possession of false identity documents with intent
Title: Forgery
Offence: Possession of false identity documents with intent
Legislation: S25(1) Identity Cards Act 2006
Commencement Date:
Mode of Trial: Indictable Only
Statutory Limitations & Maximum Penalty: 10 years
Sentencing Range:
Aggravating & Mitigating Factors
- Nature of document
- Intent
- More than one document
- Intended gain - financial or otherwise
- Sophisticated offending
- Professional hallmarks
Relevant Sentencing Guidelines (If Any)
None
Relevant Sentencing Case Law
Passports:
R v SINGH [1999] 1 Cr App R (S) 490
The integrity of the passport system must be maintained and deterrent sentences [for use] are required. Save in exceptional circumstances custodial sentences should be imposed.
R v CHEEMA [2002] 2 Cr App R (S) 79
Large scale courier 3 years.
R v KOLAWOLE [2005] 2 Cr App R (S) 14
Possession of a false instrument (passports) with intent (S3(1) and S5(1) FCA 1981). The defendant was driving erratically and found in possession of two false passports - Deterrent sentence even on a guilty plea by a person of good character 12 - 18m.
R v CAKRAJ [2007] EWCA 366
Use Passports: 12 - 18 months on a plea.
R v FABIO DE OLIVEIRA [2005] EWCA Crim 3187
Simple possession of a passport. Guilty plea 8 months. The guidelines in Kolawole apply to offences of a passport with intent (S3(1) and S5(1) FCA 1981) accept and not to simple possession (S5(2) FCA 1981).
R v LINDIWE MUTEDE [2005] EWCA Crim 3208
The defendant, who had a genuine passport, pleaded guilty to obtaining the false immigration letters and false national insurance card to enable her to work in the United Kingdom. The guideline case of Kolawole was primarily concerned with cases falling within the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981, where false passports were used. In the Court's view it was necessary to distinguish between using a false passport to obtain entry into the country, or to remain, and using false immigration letters to obtain work. 6 months.
R v ROSIENE RIBEIRO CARNEIRO [2007] EWCA Crim 2170
Brazilian overstayer used false identity documents to open a bank account to receive her wages as a cleaner. No drain on the economy. Sentence 6m (following Mutede). Held: There was no absolute embargo on a judge suspending a sentence for such an offence if there was proper ground to do so, nor was there any statutory requirement that there should be exceptional circumstances. However, once it was recognised that ordinarily the appropriate sentence for an offence of that kind involved immediate custody, there had to be some good reason for the judge to act differently in a particular case, for simple reasons of consistency.
R v ADEKUNLE ADEBAYO [2007] EWCA Crim 878
The defendant went to an employment agency and produced two documents, a national insurance card and a Nigerian passport which were fake. The defendant claimed that he had entered the United Kingdom about 10 years earlier and had lost his Nigerian passport. He had paid £2,500 for the two false documents which he had produced. Sentenced 2 years reduce to 15 months. Recommendation for deportation.
The court considered Kolawole and Mutede and stated the distinction was between the use of a false passport which is "of very considerable significance to the security of this country and to the propriety of immigration laws" (Kolawole range 12 - 18m) and cases where the defendant had a genuine passport, but used false documents in order to obtain employment (Mutede 6m).
The court also stated that it is more serious to use false documents to seek to obtain employment than to open a bank account.
AGs Reference Nos 1 and 6 of 2008 [2008] EWCA Crim 677
No 1 (DZIRUNI): The defendant, was a Zimbabwe national who came to the UK and claimed asylum. His claim had not been dealt with and he could not work or obtain benefit ie in limbo. He brought a passport and used it to obtain employment and earned £6k. Sentence 6 months suspended for two years with an 80 hour work requirement. No recommendation for deportation. Not unduly lenient. The judge found that the offender fell into a very limited class of case in terms of sentence. He was trying to lead and industrious and honest life. He fell into the category of someone who used a document to obtain work, not someone who used it to enter the country.
No 6 (LABY): The defendant was stopped entering the country with three false passports. Sentenced on the basis that he was a courier. 4 months increased to 12 months. [The judge] overlooked the need to make it clear to others in possession of false passports to facilitate unlawful entry the element of deterrent in R v Kolawole [2005]. This could be contrasted with the genuine asylum seeker who was in possession of false passport to gain employment to keep head above water. Recommendation for deportation made despite the defendant being in dual detention. It is not a sufficient deterrence if the penalty is a very short period of incarceration followed by a quick return journey home. It is not a sufficient ground for departing from the guidance offered by Kolawole, and the pattern of sentencing decisions of the court on this topic, that the offender will soon be on his way out of the this country.
R v CARNEIRO [2007] EWCA Crim 2170
Defendant was an over-stayer who used a false identity document to open a bank account. Appeal against 6 months imprisonment rejected. Comment: A useful review of authorities in this judgment.
R v MABENGO & OTHERS Times July 17, 2008
A 12-month prison sentence for using a false passport was appropriate even though it had not been used to gain entry to the United Kingdom but in order to obtain work. The appellants were failed asylum-seekers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who had renewed their asylum applications but were not entitled to asylum-seeker support or to obtain employment had supplied a false European Union passport in a false name in order to obtain employment Held that there had to be an element of deterrence in such a case in order to send out the message that the production, supply and use of false passports would always attract sentences of immediate imprisonment and, where the power existed, recommendations for deportation. The judge was entitled to impose 12-month prison sentences. As to deportation, the judge was obliged to weigh the seriousness of the offence as against other factors drawn to his attention. He did not sufficiently balance that against each appellant and his background.
R v BLAKE [2008] EWCA Crim 505 (possession with intent)
The defendant was an illegal over-stayer. He was in possession of a false driving license and showed it to a police officer following a road traffic incident and claimed to be that other person. He admitted in interview that the licence had been copied and his own photo inserted. He had the licence to obtain work. Held 9 months upheld.
Ancillary Orders:
Confiscation
Consider Also:
Deportation
Links:
Offence ARCHBOLD 22-45a
Sentence ARCHBOLD 22-45a
