A SENIOR civil servant who sold visas to people who had no right to be in the country has been jailed.

Aisha Ajia, of Battery Road, Thamesmead, was given a three-and-a-half year prison sentence at Croydon Crown Court on April 1.

She had been found guilty in February of 11 charges of misconduct as a public officer.

Mother-of-three Ajia had denied the charges and claimed someone else might have been using her computer.

Her actions came to light after a man, previously removed from the UK as an illegal entrant, was arrested in Merseyside in April 2005.

He had a Nigerian passport with a UK visa from the immigration centre at Lunar House, Croydon.

A police investigation found Ajia had illegally handed out 11 visas between late 2004 and the spring of 2005.

They were given to fellow Nigerian nationals, none of whom had ever been granted leave to enter or remain in the UK.

Ajia, who was born in the UK, obtained a law degree in Nigeria and began working in immigration in 2001, eventually becoming an executive officer in the public inquiries office at Lunar House.

The 45-year-old was arrested on March 22, 2006, but denied any involvement in the scam.

A search of her house found a photo cutter designed to punch out passport-sized pictures.

Judge John Tanzer said: "As a person of dual nationality you well knew the sensitivity of the role you were carrying out.

"With your experience in government service, you were undoubtedly conscious of the responsibilities your job carried."

He added: "As a well-educated woman, you would have been aware of the public concern over people coming to this country illegally and remaining when they should have left.

"You used your undoubted intellect to exploit the dysfunctionality which was apparent to you.

"I am told steps have been taken to stop people exploiting the system in the way you did."