A Telford man applied for a passport with the help of a solicitor who allegedly helped Jamaican immigrants obtain fake British identity documents by using stolen identities, a court heard.

Alfreco Jones, of Ash-lea Drive, Donnington, denies conspiracy to obtain property by deception.

Bristol Crown Court heard yesterday solicitor Lennox Manifold, 47, from Handsworth, Birmingham, counter-signed a total of 16 passport applications for Jamaican nationals, including convicted drug dealers deported from the UK, using stolen identities, including those of dead children and a paraplegic man.

Manifold, formerly of Maidments Solicitors and latterly of Manifold and Naser solicitors, both in Birmingham, denies 16 counts of conspiracy to obtain property by deception. 

Co-accused Andrew Morrisson, 31, of Handsworth, Birmingham, and 35-year-old Christopher Whittaker, of no fixed abode, both deny the charge.

It is alleged Jones, Morrisson and Whittaker all applied for passports with Manifold’s assistance. 

Mr Timothy Mousley, prosecuting, told the court all the fake applications were made between January 2001 and September 2006.

“They were hoping to obtain a fake identity, so they could remain in this country,” he said. 

“Many of them have a history with the immigration authorities. Some had actually been deported on previous occasions, but managed to get back to the UK.”

Mr Mousley said Jones made one application, while Morrisson and Whittaker made two applications each. He said Manifold was involved with four of his co-defendants’ applications and 12 others.

Mr Mousley said: “Why was Manifold involved with so many applications? He is a solicitor, a person of good standing in the community. He was the one who countersigned the form and endorsed the photos.”

The court heard one application was made in the name of Junior Christie, who was born in Hackney, London, in 1976, and lived for less than a month, dying in a hospital in Bethnal Green.

Mr Mousley said the actual applicant was Kenyo Powell, a convicted drug importer.

The trial continues.

By Lisa Rowley