Grandmother jailed after overstaying in UK for 20 years, Leeds court told
An immigrant grandmother who dodged the authorities for more than two decades has been jailed after using false documents to illegally secure work.
Wendy Ncube had assumed several names having left and re-entered the UK multiple times since the 1980s.
While living in Leeds she secured work with Finn Homecare Ltd using fake ID to earn money.
The 62-year admitted conspiracy to possess documentation, two of possession of false documents and one count of fraud.
She was jailed for 20 months at Leeds Crown Court. Judge Robin Mairs told her: “You have no right to reside in the UK.
“You knew very well the offences you were committing. These were determined offences given the amount of documents you had or had access to.
“Offences of this nature are so serious that only immediate custody is not only justified, but necessary.”
The court heard that Ncube, a Zimbabwean national came to the UK in the late 1980s under a different name.
Prosecutor Michael Smith said she returned home in 1989, before coming back to the UK in 1991 under another name.
She left again and returned in 1996 under yet another false name.
Over the next 20 years she was refused asylum repeatedly after multiple applications.
In December 2022 she managed to gain employment with the care company, visiting the homes of the elderly and infirm to offer assistance.
She earned more than £28,884 over a six-month period.
On December 6, 2023, immigration officers raided her address on Phoenix Close, Seacroft, and found a Portuguese passport belonging to a woman named Linda Robero (sic) and a false British passport among other items.
The court heard that she had one previous conviction from more 20 years ago related to false documents.
Mitigating, Graham O'Sullivan described it as an “unusual fraud” in that Ncube had committed the offences in order to work, rather than simply stay in the UK.
He said there had been no issues during her time in employment, although her employer had not responded to requests for a statement.
He said that she had grown-up children in the UK and grandchildren.