A Bradford chef who bought a false British passport to live illegally in the UK for more than ten years will be sent back to Pakistan after he leaves prison.

Nasir Mahmood, 32, who had worked as a chef since coming to England in 1995, claimed to have handed over £9,500 to a man who could obtain documents to support his passport application.

But prosecutor Paul Milner told a judge at Bradford Crown Court yesterday that Mahmood had actually taken on the identity of another man living in London and the deception only came to light when it was noticed that they had both submitted applications for tax credits using the same National Insurance number. During an inquiry involving officers from the Department of Work and Pensions as well as the Immigration Service, Mahmood, of Canterbury Avenue, Bradford, maintained that he was Mohammed Malik.

Mr Milner explained how the real Mr Malik had to produce various original documents such as his birth certificate in order to satisfy the investigators.

The court heard that Mahmood even made two bail applications in the magistrates' court on the basis that he was Mr Malik.

Mahmood pleaded guilty last month to obtaining the passport in Mr Malik's name by deception in March 2001 and further allegations of furnishing false information in respect of his application for a National Insurance number.

Recorder Christopher Storey QC was told that Mahmood had paid his National Insurance and taxes while working in this country and had now voluntarily agreed to return to Pakistan.

"Probably the main concern is the defendant's possession of a passport, in this day and age, which on the face of it is a genuine passport," said Mr Milner.

He told Recorder Storey that after any sentence imposed by the court Mahmood would be deported.

Jailing him for 18 months, the judge told Mahmood that he had pleaded guilty to two serious offences and added: "Your persistent assertions that you were in truth Mohammed Malik, born in England in 1976, put the real Mr Malik at risk of being declared an illegal immigrant, arrested and deported."