Jail for smuggler
Page 6
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• A German truck driver has been jailed for six years for attempting to smuggle 35 illegal immigrants into the UK in the back of his cement tanker.
Michael Weep admitted at Maidstone Crown Court that he had smuggled the men, women and children from the Indian sub-continent in the tanker, which also contained approximately two feet of sand.
His truck was stopped by customs officials at the British entry point on the French side of the Channel Tunnel. He was ordered to open up the hatches of the tanker where officials found the immigrants suffering in intense heat and pitch darkness. The German driver was arrested, and the immigrants. who each paid up to 24,000 for the journey, were detained in France by UK customs officials.
The Judge, Warwick McKinnon, initially sentenced Woop to five years in jail because he believed the maximum applicable prison term was seven years. However, after being reminded that the maximum prison term for the offence had risen to 10 years, he increased the sentence by one year.