Illegal worker got asylum tribunal job

A judge has ordered an inquiry into how an asylum-seeker got a full-time job with an asylum and immigration tribunal service. Eugene Tawanda Madzima, a Zimbabwean who was not entitled to work, was employed as an administrative assistant in Leicester when routine checks failed to detect that his documents were fraudulent. His employment was at the most junior grade, but he handled asylum tribunal appeal applications and helped to train colleagues, the Tribunals Service confirmed. Madzima, 24, of Leicester, was found out only when he tried to open a bank account with a forged passport.

Judge Simon Hammond, in jailing Madzima for a year, said at the city’s Crown Court: “Why was he able to get a full-time job with the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal Service, of all people, who are meant to be dealing with people who are seeking asylum?â€