FAKE TEEN’S JAILED FOR REFUGEE LIE

Bogus slave’s big care bill

TAXPAYERS paid thousands in foster care for a teenage Vietnamese refugee – but she turned out to be an illegal immigrant aged 22.

Duong Trinh claimed to be the victim of people smugglers when she was found hiding in the toilets ‘VICTIM’: Trinh said she was trafficked of a nail bar. She gave a false name and address and her date of birth as October 17, 2000.

Trinh was then found a foster home by Staffordshire County Council at a cost of more than £500-a-week.

She said she had been trafficked into the UK and was a victim of modern slavery. She then applied for asylum using the false details.

But after a tip-off, police contacted the Vietnamese authorities who confirmed Trinh was born on July 10, 1994, making her 22.

They sent copies of her fingerprints and a photo which were a match for the “teen”. She was jailed for eight months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

Prosecutor Joanne Wallbanks said police and immigration officers raided Isabella’s Nail and Beauty, in Cheadle, Staffs, in March 2017.

Trinh, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice. She claimed her colleagues had told her that if she was questioned she should give a false name and date of birth to make her 16.

The foster carer who took her in said she had prevented another child having a new life.