A COUPLE who claimed they came to Britain for their honeymoon and decided to stay have been jailed and will be deported.

In reality, Roberto Bruno Costa Dos Santos, 26, and Dayan Teixeira Goncalves, 37, planned to get jobs in the UK before they arrived in the country, York Crown Court heard.

Brooke Morrison, prosecuting, said they netted about £16,000 by working illegally in York for seven months.

Both were jailed for eight months and will be deported back to Brazil when they finish their sentence, the court heard.

Costa Dos Santos and Goncalves, who gave their address as Norfolk Street, Clementhorpe, both pleaded guilty to fraud by getting jobs with fake IDs, possessing fake ID with improper intention and overstaying their permission to stay in the UK.

Before sentencing, they spoke to a probation officer who was preparing a report for the court.

The Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, told them: "You both had a story ready. You spun a lie, saying you came here for your honeymoon and made a sudden decision to stay and work because of the illness of a family member."

But family letters before the court said the couple had planned to come to Europe to get jobs and help support their families because European jobs were better paid than in Brazil.

"Only an immediate prison sentence could be justified in order to deter others from seeking to enter this country illegally," he said. "You will be deported at the conclusion of your sentence."

Ms Morrison said the couple were Brazilian citizens and arrived in the UK on August 21, 2018, using their genuine passports.

On August 1, 2020, Goncalves started work as a cleaner using a fake Italian passport.

On September 21, 2020, Dos Santos also started work as a cleaner for the same York branch of a national cleaning firm.

In addition to his fake Italian passport, he had a fake Italian driving licence.

The couple gave a false address to the company and Costa Dos Santos had a car registered to a different address. The couple never lived at either address.

They were sacked from their jobs this Spring.

Immigration officers realised they were in the country illegally and arrested them.

The couple told officers they had bought the fake documents online for £400.

Between when they started work and March 30, 2021, they would have earned £8,400, minus holidays and reduced wages when Dos Santos was working reduced hours because of the pandemic, said Ms Morrison.

Emily Calman, for Goncalves and Kirsty Covey, for Costa Dos Santos, said the couple had sent their earnings back to Brazil.

Both solicitor advocates said prison was hard for the couple because they spoke very little English.