Illegal Indian immigrant waiting to be deported did jury service in UK

London, Dec.30 (ANI): An illegal Indian immigrant did jury service while waiting to get deported out of Britain.

According to The Sun, 33-year-old Narinder Kaur Thandi, was told she faced deportation to India after being caught overstaying her visa.

Yet months later she was called to appear as a juror at Birmingham Crown Court despite having no right to be in the UK.

The mum of one attended court, but did not get selected as one of the final 12 jurors to sit on a case.

Last night Tory MP and security expert Patrick Mercer blasted the blunder.

"This shows the chaotic way both immigration and illegal immigrants are handled by the Home Office," he was quoted, as saying.Thandi is believed to have come to the UK in 2000 on a temporary visa. Immigration staff later warned her she faced deportation and she was ordered to attend monthly appointments. Last May, she received a summons from Her Majesty's Court Service to perform jury service on July 14.

A source told The Sun: "Narinder thought it would help her stay in the UK - but it could have caused a conviction to collapse had she sat on a jury. It could have cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds to re-stage a trial."

Potential jurors are picked randomly from the electoral roll, and non-EU nationals must show a passport. Those who hear cases are chosen from the large group called in.Thandi has denied she was here illegally.

"I don't know who's said these things," she said.The Ministry of Justice said: "We do not comment on individual jurors." (ANI)