21 February 2023 , 08:37
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A couple who attempted to smuggle Iraqi immigrants into the UK inside the bases of two sofas were caught by Border Force officers.
Nicholas Fullwood and his wife had the pair of chairs in the back of their van when they reached the border crossing to come to the UK.
Suspicious Border Agency staff searched inside and found an Iraqi migrant hiding inside each sofa.
On Monday Fullwood, 48, was jailed for three years by a judge at Canterbury Crown Court, Kent.
His wife, whose name has been withheld, was handed a two year suspended sentence and a third person involved, 31-year-old Azad Ahmadi was jailed for four years and six months.
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The men were found hidden inside the base of the sofasA spokesman for the Home Office said: "A married couple who smuggled Iraqi migrants into the UK by hiding them in sofas have been sentenced today.
"Nicholas Fullwood, from Chesterfield, Derbyshire, received a jail term of three years at Canterbury Crown Court.
“His wife, who was also involved, was handed a two-year suspended sentence. A third defendant, 31-year-old Azad Ahmadi, of Allenton, Derby, was sentenced to four years and six months.
"The trio were sentenced for conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration, following an investigation by the Home Office's Criminal and Financial Investigations (CFI) unit.”
The sofas had been bought from a store in Lille, France
The couple were sentenced for smuggling the migrants inside the sofasThe couple had been on their way back to the UK from a furniture store in Lille.
The Minister for Immigration, Robert Jenrick, said after the sentencing: "We are determined to bring to justice the criminal gangs that undertake the repulsive trade of people-smuggling.
"The Home Office is working night and day to dismantle people-smuggling networks and tackle illegal migration head-on."
The spokesman added: "The Fullwoods were stopped in their Peugeot Boxer van by Border Force officers in the UK control zone in Coquelles, France, on 5 January 2019.
Azad Ahmadi was also sentenced to four years and six months"The couple told officers they were making their way back to the UK from picking up furniture in Lille. On searching the back of the van, officers found two male Iraqi migrants in the base of two different sofas.
"During the course of the investigation, a further suspect was identified as Ahmadi, who was believed to be involved in the organisation of this smuggling attempt alongside the Fullwoods.
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"Officers connected him to the Fullwoods through phone work and financial transactions.”
Chris Foster, deputy director for Immigration Enforcement's Criminal and Financial Investigations, said: "This is another example of immigration enforcement officers doing brilliant work to stop people smugglers from bringing people unlawfully into the country.
"Although criminals are continuing to adapt their methods of smuggling people, our teams are adept at flexing their approach to bring them to justice."