Immigration fraudster sentenced to three more years in prison for drug dealing

A drug dealer who previously arranged a sham marriage to skirt UK immigration law has been jailed for a further three years after failing to hand himself in to police.

Daniel Selvin Woodbridge, now 43, of Windsor Road in Ilford, had previously been sentenced to two years and three months in prison for conspiring to do an act to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration by a non-EU person.

In 2017, during the investigation into the sham marriage, officers carried out a warrant at Woodbridge’s previous address where just under 1kg of amphetamine was discovered on top of his kitchen cabinets, along with mobile devices and small bags that suggested drug dealing related to the property.

The amphetamine were estimated to have a street value of up to £10,000.

He appeared in court via video link in 2023 for the sham marriage sentence and was told to hand himself in, but instead hid from police and refused to go to prison.

On 19 January 2024, our officers found and arrested him after months on the run. He was charged with five drug-related offences and pleaded guilty to offering to supply Class A drugs and the possession with intent to supply Class B drugs, with three other charges to lay on file.

He received a three-year prison sentence for the two drugs offences and an additional eight weeks for failing to surrender to police on Thursday 25 January, to be served consecutively to the sham marriage sentence.

Detective Inspector Frazer Low said:

“Despite Woodbridge making attempts to avoid capture, he has now been sentenced to more than five years in prison for all his crimes. It has taken years of work to make sure the cases against Woodbridge were as strong as possible and his further apprehension means he has faced justice rather than evading the sentence handed to him.”