AN ALBANIAN national has been locked up after he tried to present fake ID to police in Balloch.

Edi Flora showed officers a driving licence and health identity card which, at first glance, looked to be Italian, and bore the name ‘Guglielmo D’Angelo’.

But officers who spoke to Flora spotted that he looked nervous and appeared to be trying to hide something – and when they carried out a drugs search, one of the cops found a bank card with the 29-year-old’s correct name.

Flora appeared from custody at Dumbarton Sheriff Court, where he admitted charges of possessing identity documents he knew to be false.

Fiscal depute Kevin Doherty told a hearing on January 21 that the deception came to light after police spotted a man sitting in a parked Volkswagen Passat , with a rear tyre on the pavement, in Miller Road, Haldane.

Mr Doherty said: “Officers stopped to speak to him, and the accused identified himself as Guglielmo D’Angelo, born January 12, 1984, and produced an Italian health identity card with those particulars.

“Officers noted he appeared to be nervous and was attempting to conceal an item underneath the driver’s seat.

“This resulted in him being detained for the purposes of a drugs search.

“It was apparent that English was not his first language, but he could follow proceedings, and indicated that he understood.”

After the bank card was found, Flora told the officers that was his correct name and that his date of birth was September 29, 1981.

A check of the police national computer found that Flora was uninsured and unlicensed; on being told of this, Flora produced an Italian driving licence bearing the same false name.

Mr Doherty told the court both cards bore photographs with a true likeness of Flora.

“The accused was then arrested for the possession of documents with an improper intention, namely of concealing his true identity from the police and prosecuting authorities.”

Flora, described in court papers as an inmate at Low Moss prison, also pleaded guilty to charges of driving without a licence and driving without insurance.

Flora’s solicitor said his client had been in custody since the day after his arrest, and acknowledged that background reports would be needed before sentencing.

The lawyer asked for Flora to be released on bail, stating that Flora’s brother had supplied a bail address in the south of England.

But Sheriff Maxwell Hendry told Flora: “I understand why, having spend some months in custody, you would like to regain your liberty.

“That, however, is not the criterion I have to apply. You have now pled guilty to possessing documents which were false, but presented by you as true, and that causes me concern – and does not satisfy me that you can be trusted to be admitted to bail.”

Flora, who was remanded in custody will be brought back to court on February 18 for sentencing, once the reports are ready.