A mother and son were caught illegally smuggling Vietnamese nationals into the country inside the trunk of their car. James Liddiard and Andrea Cavanagh were among six Merseyside-based traffickers caught trying to transport stowaways into the UK from France within the space of a week.
The pair carried out their plan while pretending they were on a day trip to Paris, the Liverpool ECHO reports. Canterbury Crown Court heard on Tuesday that the smugglers 'worked in pairs' with the first journey being traced back to December, 9, 2018 where two hidden Vietnamese passengers were discovered in the boot of a car being driven by Charli White, with then 17-year-old companion Erin Burns 'acting as a decoy' beside her in the front seat.
A few days later on December 13, Liddiard was stopped while driving with his mum Cavanagh and was caught transporting another two illegal migrants while Louisa Harrison and David Finn were also discovered with three stowaways in their trunk that same day. The Home Office confirmed that UK Border Control had stopped four vehicles at Coquelles, near Calais, between December 8 and 13 2018.
Checks showed that each of them had booked short-notice trips to France which would allow them to visit for less than 24 hours. These cars all had one front-seat passenger beside the driver and a total of 11 'undocumented' Vietnamese men and women were found hidden in the boots who were subsequently 'served illegal entry papers and presented to the French authorities'.
When arrested, the occupants of the vehicles 'expressed surprise that anyone was in the boot of their respective cars' and 'denied any involvement with assisting illegal entry to the UK'. Investigations found that 'expenditure for the trips was inconsistent with their financial situation', with all the suspects having been unemployed at the time.
Authorities also spoke with a specialist mechanical engineer who proved that it 'would have been obvious to the drivers' that the migrants were hiding in the boots, due to factors including a change in handling. Meanwhile, one was caught by a speed camera while travelling over the limit on route back to Coquelles, with the captured image identifying the motorist and showing a Vietnamese man sitting in the back seat.
All six defendants and their counsel appeared via video link to Liverpool Crown Court yesterday afternoon and admitted facilitating unlawful immigration. Several of them had pleaded guilty to the offence as long ago as August 2019 with delays in the case proceedings being the reason why some of them were able to walk free from the dock.
Liddiard was jailed for two years while Finn was ordered to 22 months in prison. Both men admitted they had committed the crime because they were in debt due to substance abuse and were told they'd be paid.
Mother of five, White - who is also known as Charli Maddock was handed a two-year imprisonment suspended for two years and a six-month electronically monitored curfew from 7pm to 7am.
Cavanagh, who suffers from fibromyalgia and used a wheelchair in court, was given 22 months suspended for two years and six-month curfews from 8pm to 8am. Harrison, who was also in 'significant' debt and 'believed she was going to get cigarettes and alcohol' from France before discovering the true nature of her trip was handed the same sentence.
Burns, who was only 17-years-old at the time the offending, was given a 15-month sentence suspended for two years and a six-month, 7pm to 8am curfew. Sentencing, Judge Mark Weekes said: "This was obviously done for profit and part of carefully organised criminality.
"These type of offences create an inherent risk to the safety of the UK's borders and undermine public confidence in the immigration authorities. Once in the country, the authorities are unlikely to know of a person's existence - undocumented, with all the problems that may concern.
"I consider it inevitable they would have been exploited and trafficked once in this country, and all of you played your part." Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said following the sentencing: "This brazen attempt to cram illegal migrants into an incredibly tight space and smuggle them over our border is unacceptable, and we will not stand for it.
"These sentences show that we are bringing to justice these gangs, who put profit before lives by smuggling vulnerable people into the country so dangerously."
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