Nigerian Illegal Immigrant in Britain, Linda Okungbowa, Avoids Jail after Judge's "Display of Mercy"

Nigerian immigrant, Linda Okungbowa, in  Britain should count her stars for escaping doing jail time after the trial judge showed "an amazing display of mercy" her. Linda Okungbowa entered Britain illegally twelve years ago with the help of some "human traffickers" on a false passport.


She was accused of claiming 'destitution benefits" and child support, despite working illegally with false identities.

In her defence, she stated that the money earned from working illegally was channeled towards paying off the debts she owed to her "traffickers", whom she described as constantly changing their fees to the frustration of Linda. Although she had the intention of training as a medical doctor, her dreams were shattered by the attitude of her traffickers as almost all her income was spent on defraying her "debts". In fact, due to the demands of the traffickers, she led a life of destitution, subjecting her three children to walk 12 miles to school.

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Linda Okungbowa was arrested and sent to prison in 2011, where she spent 8 months for using false documents to gain employment, and claiming 70,000 Pounds Sterling.

According to Dailymail, even after her release from prison in 2011, she continued to work with false identities and claimed about 22,610 Pounds in destitution benefits, and 26,201 Pounds in child tax credit and working tax credit between June 2011 and January 2015.

In the words of the Judge, Simon Lawler J, "I may be criticised because fraud from the public purse is common and everybody in this court knows usually the offender goes immediately to custody, but in this particular case I can see no useful purpose to the public in sending you to custody. I hope you repay the trust the court has placed in you". The Judge stated upon suspending her sentence. Her I8-month prison sentence was thus suspended for two years.


Dailymail