Post by acnedriver on May 1, 2023 6:37:45 GMT
Three men who plotted to smuggle four Albanian migrants from Belgium to the UK in a light aircraft have been jailed.
Pilot Silavano Turchet hired the plane, which fellow pilot Richard Styles then used to fly the migrants to an airfield in Northamptonshire.
Taxi driver Vijayakumar Sivakumar picked the migrants up, but they were intercepted by police and officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Styles was arrested at the airfield.
Upon being arrested, he said: "I normally get arrested for drugs so it's a bit strange to be arrested for illegal immigration."
Turchet was arrested at a later date at his home in West Bridgford in Nottinghamshire, following what the judge described as a "very thorough" investigation by the NCA.
Judge Timothy Spencer KC sentenced Styles to seven years, Turchet to seven and a half years, and Sivakumar to four and a half years.
All of the defendants had previous convictions for either smuggling drugs or migrants.
The judge described Styles as "the go-to pilot for the illegal use of light aircraft", while Turchet was described as "a similar go-to man for fixing anything to do with the illegal use of light aircraft".
During the sentencing hearing at Leicester Crown Court on Friday, the prosecution explained the migrants were intercepted after the NCA received a tip-off.
The judge said the NCA then "moved very swiftly and impressively", and said he would be giving commendations to all involved.
The light aircraft landed at Deenethorpe Airfield in Northamptonshire on 24 March last year.
Styles was arrested at an aircraft hangar, while Sivakumar was arrested after taking the migrants to the nearby town of Corby in his Mercedes.
While Turchet was later arrested at his home, a fourth man involved in the plot "evaporated", the judge said, and has not been brought to justice.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-65424869
Pilot Silavano Turchet hired the plane, which fellow pilot Richard Styles then used to fly the migrants to an airfield in Northamptonshire.
Taxi driver Vijayakumar Sivakumar picked the migrants up, but they were intercepted by police and officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Styles was arrested at the airfield.
Upon being arrested, he said: "I normally get arrested for drugs so it's a bit strange to be arrested for illegal immigration."
Turchet was arrested at a later date at his home in West Bridgford in Nottinghamshire, following what the judge described as a "very thorough" investigation by the NCA.
Judge Timothy Spencer KC sentenced Styles to seven years, Turchet to seven and a half years, and Sivakumar to four and a half years.
All of the defendants had previous convictions for either smuggling drugs or migrants.
The judge described Styles as "the go-to pilot for the illegal use of light aircraft", while Turchet was described as "a similar go-to man for fixing anything to do with the illegal use of light aircraft".
During the sentencing hearing at Leicester Crown Court on Friday, the prosecution explained the migrants were intercepted after the NCA received a tip-off.
The judge said the NCA then "moved very swiftly and impressively", and said he would be giving commendations to all involved.
The light aircraft landed at Deenethorpe Airfield in Northamptonshire on 24 March last year.
Styles was arrested at an aircraft hangar, while Sivakumar was arrested after taking the migrants to the nearby town of Corby in his Mercedes.
While Turchet was later arrested at his home, a fourth man involved in the plot "evaporated", the judge said, and has not been brought to justice.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-65424869