AN illegal immigrant is facing deportation after being convicted of having sex with a schoolgirl.

The 15-year-old girl ran away with Ascan Omanov after meeting him while walking in a park near her home, a court heard.

Within a few days the pair began an affair, which culminated in the girl running away to London with Omanov, sparking a nationwide search for the teenager. Her parents appealed for her to return home, knowing she had become infatuated with Omanov, 30, but she stayed in the capital for 11 days.

After the girl was returned to her family Omanov was charged with having unlawful sexual intercourse with the teenager.

Yesterday, he was convicted of the charge after a trial at Newcastle Crown Court, and warned that he faces deportation.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, went missing from her home last summer after she started a relationship with Omanov, whom she knew only as Josh.

The court heard how the nationwide hunt was triggered after the pair fled to London from Gateshead, Tyneside, last July.

Judge Gerard Harkins told Omanov that he was considering making a deportation order. "I have in mind making such an order, and it seems to me that a custodial sentence is inequitable," he said.

Omanov has refused to cooperate with immigration officials and will not say where he is from.

A verdict of not guilty was returned on a second charge of abduction.

Judge Harkins adjourned sentence for a week and remanded Omanov in custody.