AN IRAQI Kurd could be jailed after admitting trying to remain in the UK by deception, at Felixstowe.Karem Jalal who married a Brit, even got his local MP to write on his behalf, but was refused permission to stay.

By Amanda Cresswell

AN IRAQI Kurd could be jailed after admitting trying to remain in the UK by deception, at Felixstowe.

Karem Jalal who married a Brit, even got his local MP to write on his behalf, but was refused permission to stay.

Asad Aziz, mitigating, told Ipswich magistrates that out of "frustration" and "anxiety" Jalal made another application under a false name, which this time was successful.

Mr Aziz said: "Having given the same facts under a different name, the irony is he was granted leave to remain."

He told the court Jalal the matter "played on his conscience" and he admitted the deception.

Godfried Duah, prosecuting, said Jalal, 23, had been in the country since 1999 after seeking asylum at Dover.

After his marriage in 2000, he tried to apply to remain in this country as a spouse of a UK national. Jalal's MP wrote on his behalf, but the application was refused.

In October this year he turned up at the immigration office at Felixstowe.

Mr Duah said: "This person submitted a claim for asylum indicating he had just fled Iraq and fingerprints were taken.

"The fingerprints were subsequently found to be that of Jalal who had applied and been refused."

He said the aggravating features were that he tried to deceive the immigration authorities over a period of time, two applications were submitted, and he had involved his MP.

Mr Aziz said: "Yes he contacted his MP for his local constituency in Ilford to see if matters could be speeded up. But throughout, he was clearly seeking help because he wasn't getting any response from the Home Office.

"On several occasions he went to find out how his application was being processed, but unfortunately the information was not forthcoming. The only aggravating feature in my mind is that of him having made a second application under a different name.

"I submit this was down to sheer frustration and anxiety down to the lack of correspondence received."

He told the court Jalal he identified himself to the authorities because it "was playing on his conscience."

"He spoke to his wife who did not feel comfortable with the idea of having given a false name."

Magistrates referred Jalal, of Selborne Road, Ilford, to Ipswich Crown Court for sentencing, on a date to be fixed.