AN illegal immigrant attended courts under a false name and opened bank accounts with a dud driving licence and passport, a Southampton judge heard.

Prosecutor Andy Houston said Dino Martin, 37, arrived at Gatwick in 1999 but was refused leave to enter as authorities wouldn't accept he was only staying in Britain for a month.

But on the eve of his flight back to Montego Bay, the Jamaican national absconded from the airport and was at large for almost three years until he was arrested as Adam Jones.

Southampton Crown Court heard he later applied for a British passport under the same name, giving the address of Cheryl Childs who lived at Wyndham Court.

Martin was arrested in August, 2003, for a domestic incident and admitted he was an illegal immigrant but applied for asylum on the basis he had two children in the UK and was the father of Childs's son.

His application however was rejected and he was deported to Jamaica in October but a passport in the name of Jones was delivered to her flat and she “hot footed” it to the island where they were married a week later.

The court heard Martin later re-entered Britain on the false passport and used her address as he enrolled at Solent University in 2005 to study music technology and in 2006 on a BSC internet application courses but on each occasion he withdrew from them.

In 2007, he enrolled for a third time, this time taking out a student loan to study computer games development but no cash was repaid.

He used the passport to open a bank account that closed following a fraudulent payment of £6,000 into it and illegally obtained a driving licence, using it to open a bank account that closed with £12,000 overdue.

Mr Houston said Martin had also appeared in other courts under the alias for drugs and other offences. Childs applied for him to be put on the voters register as Jones, saying he was living with her.

However, “the balloon went up” when a social worker saw Childs for family background and she gave “a convoluted story.”

A former girlfriend also confirmed to police Jones was really Martin and he was an illegal immigrant When challenged over his name on the electoral role, Childs claimed he was an ex-boy friend and had never been to her address, but when it was searched, children's birth certificates named Martin as their father.

Martin, of Sullivan Road, Southampton, admitted 15 charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice, possessing false identity documents, acquiring criminal property, fraud and breaching the Immigration Act. He was jailed for three years.

In mitigation, Richard Onslow said he faced deportation but would take his case to appeal.

“He is deeply attached to his young children and has acted as a father should do. Many people want to come to this country relying on being looked after but he has worked from time to time.”

Childs, 38, of the same address, admitted one count of assisting an offender under the Immigration Act and received a 12 suspended month sentence and six months supervision.