AN illegal immigrant who used forged documents to falsely claim £25,000 in benefits has walked free from court.

Rebecca Osafo produced two bogus letters saying she had permission to stay in the UK as well as a fake stamp in her passport.

Judge Douglas Field said he was taking ‘a merciful course’ by imposing a sentence which will not lead to her deportation.

Instead he told the 33-year-old schizophrenic she must receive treatment for her mental health problems as part of the sentence.

Osafo first arrived in the UK in 2002 from her home in Ghana on a six-month visitor’s visa.

After falling ill she said she decided to stay and through her brother got the fake visa stamp in her passport and bogus letter saying she was allowed to stay.

Robin Shellard, prosecuting, said earlier this year Osafo made a claim for Employment Support Allowance – a benefit for someone with a disability.

As part of the application she produced a letter purporting to be from the Home Office saying she had been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK in 2004.

The paperwork was sent to the UK Border Agency for checking and it found the claim was fraudulent because of her immigration status.

It was then found she had produced a similar fake letter in October 2007 as well as her passport, which had a bogus visa stamp in it.

When she was questioned she said her brother had got her the documentation as well as a false NHS number.

She said she had worked up to 2007 when she became ill and agreed she was not entitled to any of the £25,000 in benefits.

“They were all paid as she represented she had indefinite leave to remain and she did not. Her visa ran out in February 2003,” he said.

He said that were she to receive a jail term of a year or more she would be automatically considered for deportation.

If any other sentence was imposed then it would be up to the judge to decide whether to recommend she be removed from the country.

Osafo, of Medgbury Road, pleaded guilty to three counts of using a false instrument with intent.

Rob Ross, defending, said she was being seen by a social worker for her problems and also provided the court with a psychiatric report.

He urged the court to impose a suspended sentence and not to recommend her deportation.

Judge Douglas Field said: “In normal circumstances I would be passing a custodial sentence in excess of 12 months so you would be deported.

“What is different in your case is your very serious mental health problems and you have been receiving treatment on and off over a long period of time for your schizophrenia.”

He imposed a ten month jail term suspended for a year and told her she must be under supervision for a year and subject to a mental health requirement.

He added that if she breached the condition she could face deportation later.