AN IMMIGRANT who used a fake passport to get a job cleaning a Didcot supermarket has been jailed for eight months.

Boubacar Diallo admitted using the fraudulent French passport after failing to return to his West African home following a trip the the UK in 2002.

Sentencing at Oxford Crown Court on Friday, Judge Ian Pringle told Diallo, of Castle Walk, Didcot. he could only be punished by serving time behind bars.

Prosecutor Sandra Beck said Diallo, who was supported in court by his wife and friends, should have returned to his Guinea home when his visa expired in 2009.

She said Diallo, who started working as a cleaner in January last year, applied for asylum twice but was refused.

The prosecutor said the 40-year-old told officers in interview a friend gave him the counterfeit passport, allowing him to work in the UK.

Defence barrister Adrian Amer said Diallo, who appeared at the court via video link from Bullingdon Prison, did not want to claim state benefits while in the country.

He said the defendant, who had no previous convictions, wanted to work in the UK to support his family back home.

Mr Amer said: "He seems to be a very hard-working individual who apparently carried out his duties conscientiously and with good grace. While in this country, his character, other than this offence, is exemplary."

Diallo, who was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge, admitted possessing an identity document with improper intention between January 1 and February 15 last year, and fraud between January 1, 2013, and May 25, 2016.