A man selling pirated porn DVDs on the streets has been locked up for four months.

Xue Qiang Zhen was caught red-handed offering the lewd films to passersby in Tooting High Street last December.

The Chinese man, who was seeking asylum in the UK, dropped his haul and ran when he was challenged by a police patrol, but he was chased down quickly.

South Western Magistrates' Court heard that police found 65 counterfeit DVDs in his carrier bag, including 12 that contained hardcore pornography. Other films had just been released in cinemas and where not yet available in shops.

The prosecution was brought by Wandsworth Council's trading standards team and the district judge ordered Zhen be deported to China when released from prison.

He heard the culprit had previous convictions for similar offences and was breaching the conditions of earlier conditional discharges.

The borough's chief trading standards officer Les Eames said buying such DVDs was not victimless. He added: "People involved in the illicit production of these pirate goods use the money they generate from these activities to commit much more serious crimes.

"Many of the Mr Bigs involved in this racket are also involved in fraud, people-smuggling, drugs and prostitution."