A HAMPSHIRE man was spared a jail sentence – so he could travel abroad to donate a kidney to his critically ill sister.

Naveed Khan was facing up to nine months behind bars for his illegal attempt to help a friend reach the UK from France.

But Judge Peter Henry suspended the sentence after hearing how the 34-year-old desperately needed to fly to Pakistan to undergo a kidney transplant for his younger sibling.

The judge, sitting at Southampton Crown Court, said that although the crime he had committed was serious, there were “exceptional circumstances”.

Khan, together with Ali Abrar, had pleaded guilty to possession of false identification documents with intent.

The pair, both from Derby Road in Southampton, had travelled to Portsmouth to catch a ferry to France in June last year, with the intention of helping an Afghan national across the Channel.

But Abrar, 22, left the port before the vessel left, handing his passport to Khan, who travelled to France to give it to their friend. But when they returned, immigration officers saw that the photo in the passport was not a match and police soon made arrests.

In mitigation, the court heard how Khan had been an “exemplary” member of society, who had lived and worked in the country for 14 years with no previous convictions.

Abrar was described as being a “decent young man” who had been part of an “unsophisticated, stupid and badly thought-out” crime.

They were handed nine-month jail sentences, suspended for two years, as well as fines of £600 each and 200 hours of unpaid work.

Khan will be allowed to travel to Pakistan and defer his unpaid work programme until his return.