An Indian cricket coach who stole another man's identity to stay in the UK was only discovered when the real man went to get his Covid jab and was told he had already had it.
Harshil Patel, 30, got married and obtained bank cards and a driving licence in the name of his wholly innocent victim Melvin Dias.
It emerged that Patel had overstayed his visa by seven years before he stole Mr Dias's details.
The 'talented cricketer', who arrived in Britain 12 years ago on a student visa, which was valid until 2012, made £23,000 working for Tesco and Ladbrokes in his victim's name over the 20-month period in which he had his identity.
Patel was finally caught when the real Mr Dias tried to book a coronavirus jab in May this year, only to be told someone had already been administered the vaccine in his name.
A court heard Patel decided to try and 'regularise' his immigration status after inheriting money from the family home in Gujarat, India, in 2019.
Harshil Patel (pictured), 30, got married and obtained bank cards and a driving licence in the name of his wholly innocent victim Melvin Dias
It was claimed he may have paid up to £65,000 for the false papers.
The computer science and electrical engineering graduate had been an occasional cricket coach and moved between causal jobs while living in Britain.
The victim, Mr Dias, 31, arrived in Britain from Goa, India, four years ago but was granted leave to remain because his wife is Portuguese.
He first became worried in August last year when he applied for a Portuguese citizen card, but had it refused because he was told one was already in use.
He had to send all his documents to Portugal and get a lawyer, but only became sure he had fallen victim to fraud after struggling to book a jab.
Upon this discovery, he confronted Patel at his home in Hounslow, west London, but was
