A FAILED asylum seeker has been jailed for nine months for using a fake French passport.

Mbono Saidi Mienda, aged 24, of Dijon Street, Daubhill, pleaded guilty to abusing a false instrument when he appeared at Bolton Crown Court.

Gerald Jones, prosecuting, said Mienda, from the western African Republic of Burundi, had used the counterfeit papers to get a National Insurance number from the Department of Work and Pensions office in Salford on March 29.

"He produced what appeared to be a genuine French passport. However, when the documents were examined various flaws were found," said Mr Jones.

Mienda told police he came to the UK from Burundi in 2002 and had been working on the black market, washing cars and labouring at construction sites. He failed two asylum applications and one appeal and said he paid £1,000 for the fake passport because he was under financial pressure and wanted legitimate work.

Sentencing him, Judge Steven Everett said: "This country's borders must be respected. You have been working on the black market cash-in-hand and that is to the detriment of people who work in this country because you have not been paying your dues."