Bizarre excuse for illegal pizza worker

even if he wasn’t paid a wage, the Home Office still considered him employed as an illegal worker.

Licensing officials from West Yorkshire Police decided to attempt to revoke Mr Khan’s licence to run the pizza place to prevent further crime and disorder.

In a statement for Kirklees Council’s licensing panel, Mr Khan said: “(Jahangir) is an unwell man and therefore why would I choose to employ him at my takeaway.

“He was not working or preparing food as he is an unwell man who at times does strange acts.”

Mr Ali, a solicitor acting for Mr Khan, said his client had no knowledge of Home Office regulations. He said Jahangir had come to the UK on a spousal visa and had previously been working legitimately.

“He had no idea he was illegal,” said Mr Ali.

But Pc Leon Stansfield, licensing officer for West Yorkshire Police, said Mr Khan “had no excuse” for not checking his employment status.

He questioned why Jahangir had been alone in the food preparation area if he wasn’t working.

He said: “You’re allowing your cousin to play with food that you will be selling; that seems strange.”

But the three-strong group of councillors at the licensing panel opted to reject police attempts to revoke Mr Khan’s licence.

Chairman, Clr Carole Pattison, said they agreed he “probably was employed illegally”.

But instead of banning him from running the pizza takeaway they decided to alter his license to make it mandatory for him to have documentation of the immigration status of all employees kept on the premises at all times.

No-one from the Home Office or UK Border Agency attended the meeting to give evidence.

Meanwhile, Mr Khan is still facing a separate court hearing over employing an illegal worker contrary to the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act.

If found guilty he could face a £15,000 fine.