A FOREIGNER who defied a deportation order in North Yorkshire has been jailed.

Florin Istrate, 31, had been expelled from Britain which meant that he could not return to the country until the order was revoked.

But earlier this year, he was found in Pickering when the order was still in force.

Istrate, of no fixed address, admitted entering the UK between March 6 and October 1 in breach of a deportation order, when he appeared before York Magistrates Court on Saturday.

He was sent to prison for four months and ordered to pay a £128 statutory surcharge.

Magistrates said the offence was serious because of his previous record and the sentence was only one that could be justified.

The maximum sentence he could have received was six months and he was entitled to have the jail term reduced by a third because he pleaded guilty on his first court appearance.

Anyone subject to a deportation order can apply to have it revoked, but according to the Immigration Rules, anyone deported because they have been jailed in the UK for up to four years should not have the order revoked within 10 years.