A MYSTERY Nigerian stole another person's identity and lived as him for five years without being detected.

The man, who called himself Mohammed Suleyman, lived illegally in West Street, Erith, and ran up large debts after obtaining bank accounts and credit cards under his assumed name.

At Snaresbrook Crown Court last week, "Suleyman" was jailed for two-and-a-half years after being found guilty of forgery and obtaining property by deception.

A jury took just 15 minutes to return a guilty verdict.

It was recommended the man should be deported at the end of his sentence.

The court heard how the man, believed to be in his 30s, had copied the birth certificate of a genuine British passport holder.

Jurors were told the real Mohammed Suleyman was born in an Islington hospital in April 1981 and has not yet been traced by police.

"Suleyman" used the stolen details and passport number of a woman called Mary Renshaw, whom he claimed was an old family friend, as a counter signatory on his passport application.

He claimed she was an IT consultant living in Maybury Road, Barking.

In fact she lived in West Mercia in the west midlands and worked as a civilian employee for West Mercia police.

"Suleyman" insisted he had met Miss Renshaw several times, but she had never been to the London area.

Suspicions about "Suleyman" were raised by the British Passport Service, and investigations carried out by it and the Met Police's Operation Maxim revealed the passport had been sent to the address of a well-known fraudster.

Operation Maxim deals with immigration crimes such as human trafficking, smuggling and counterfeit document abuse.

"Suleyman" told the court he had been born in Islington but had gone to Nigeria when he was four, before returning to the UK in 1998.

He has refused to reveal his true identity to police.

Detective Constable Neil Taylor, who led the investigation, said: "This still unidentified Nigerian man was convinced he had duped the authorities for some five years into believing he was Mohammed Suleyman."

He said the joint actions of the police and other services "have managed to stop this consummate fraudster from committing further crime".