THREE men and a woman are starting jail sentences totalling 11 years after being convicted of an immigration and passports scam run from a quiet semi-detached house in Burnley.

Husband and wife Shohidul and Anwara Islam were caught out when immigration officers arrived at their Leamington Avenue home looking for Bangladeshi man Shafik Miah, who was believed to have remained in the UK illegally.

The couple claimed he had gone back to Bangladesh – but officers found him hidden under a pile of suitcases behind a fake wall in the loft, a trial at the town’s crown court was told.

Prosecutors said a stash of fake documents was also found and these ranged from counterfeit, doctored or ‘lost or stolen’ passports and National Insurance cards, in the names of various Bangladeshi nationals.

The Islams denied assisting unlawful immigration and 11 offences of possessing an identity document with improper intention but were convicted after a trial.

Under the same probe, immigration officers later detained Abdul Shahid, a frequent sponsor of Bangladeshi arrivals who runs a restaurant in Bolton, and his nephew Mohammed Amin Uddin. Shahid and Uddin were also convicted of 11 document offences.

Uddin had admitted possession of a false NI card and a false Bangladeshi passport in his own name, before the trial. Jurors heard that when the original raid took place, Anwara Islam had tried to stall immigration officers before Miah, whose six-month British visa expired in October 2011, was found.

Immigration officer Neil Holt told the court: “I spoke to Anwara Islam and she said: ‘I’m sorry. Shafik can’t go back to Bangladesh, he is in danger. I asked why she hadn’t contacted the Home Office and who was it that helped Shafik Miah. She made no comment.”

The raid, unearthed false passports, identity cards and 270 pages of documentation, mainly relating to Abdul Shahid and Bangladeshi immigration. Prosecutors said references were made to Shahid’s former home in Eastern Street, Burnley, his current address in Bar Street, and the Sunar Gaw restaurant, which he owned or used to own, in Bolton. Four Bangladeshis were sponsored by the restaurant in 2004 and paperwork related to their cases.

Shohidul Islam was jailed for five-and-a-half years and Anwara Islam for 27 months. Uddin, 42, also of Bar Street, was jailed for 27 months and Shahid for 30 months.