Passport fraud man sent to prison

Myton signed the fraudulent applications in a four-month period

A civil servant has been jailed for two years for signing seven fraudulent passport applications.

Charles Myton, 28, from Tooting, south London, helped seven people obtain passports illegally in 2003 by claiming to know them as friends.

Myton, a former JobCentre employee, was found guilty of seven counts of forgery at Croydon Crown Court in August.

Police are still trying to trace six of the seven people Myton helped obtain passports illegally.

Myton signed the fraudulent applications within a four-month period.

One man issued with a passport was a Jamaican, who was subsequently deported to Jamaica after being caught trying to enter the US using the false passport.

Outside court, Identity and Passport Service spokesman Bernard Herdan said "significant criminal harm" can be facilitated by holding a false passport.

Det Ch Insp John Kielty said: "No-one should be left in any doubt that countersigning one is a serious responsibility.

"Unless you have genuinely known the person applying for the passport for at least three years, you could be liable to a prison sentence if this leads to a fraudulently-obtained passport."