AN ILLEGAL immigrant who tried to smuggle his fiancée into the UK with a false passport has been jailed.

Albanian Federik Rexha had settled in Newport and was using a fake Romanian driving licence to find work in car washes and as a labourer.

The 35-year-old wanted to bring his fiancée from his homeland so that she could live with him in Wales.

Joshua Scouller, prosecuting, said Rexha and a friend had used the friend’s wife’s passport in an attempt to bring Anila Pecaku into Britain from France.

But border control officers at Calais were not so easily fooled as the defendant’s fiancée bore little resemblance to the photograph in the passport.

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Enquiries led the authorities to Rexha who was arrested in Gwent in September.

The defendant, of Rodney Road, Newport, pleaded guilty to assisting illegal entry into the UK and possession of a false identity document.

Newport Crown Court heard how Rexha had tried to enter Britain illegally in 2012 using fake Italian papers.

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He disappeared two years later while being investigated by the police for criminal damage before he was deported in 2016.

It is believed Rexha returned illegally to the UK in 2018.

Graeme Logan, representing the defendant, said: “This was an unsophisticated attempt to bring his fiancée into the UK.

“It was done for romantic reasons.

“The defendant was working at car washes and as a labourer for cash in hand.

“He had money to rent a flat. He was working and wasn’t a drain on the UK taxpayer.

“The defendant now has the threat of automatic deportation hanging over him.”

The judge, Recorder Mark Powell QC, told Rexha: “You and a friend used a passport belonging to the friend’s wife to try and get your fiancée into the country.

“The authorities realised that it did not correspond with your fiancée and she was prevented from coming into the country.

“I am satisfied your motivation to bring her into the UK was not financial but it was because you wanted to be with her.

“However, an attempt to avoid border controls is an extremely serious matter and demands a sentence of imprisonment, whatever the motivation.”

The defendant was jailed for 15 months and Recorder Powell recommended his deportation following his release from prison.