UK ringleaders jailed over scam providing fake passports for criminals

Scheme provided falsified passports to formers suspect in Stephen Lawrence case and Irish crime boss

The ringleaders of a gang that specialised in supplying fake passports to high-level criminals allowing them to evade arrest and identification have been jailed.

Anthony Beard, 61, paid individuals for expired passports and applied for renewals using photographs of criminals who paid up to 20,000 to start new lives in Dubai, Portugal and Spain.