2 jailed for smuggling Albanians to Britain

LONDON: Britain jailed two men on Friday for trying to smuggle 18 Albanians to the United Kingdom by boat in one of a growing number of similar attempts intercepted by British authorities.

Robert Stilwell and Mark Stribling were sentenced to four years and four months and four years and eight months in prison respectively for their part in the failed smuggling operation on May 29.

They had been the only people on board the boat wearing life jackets and charged each passenger 6,000 euros (£5,600, $6,660) to be smuggled to Britain, prosecutors said.

Stilwell is a former European and Commonwealth judo champion.

The two men were rescued along with the 18 migrants, including two children, after the inflatable boat ran into difficulty between France and Britain. A woman on board needed medical treatment after showing signs of hypothermia.

The rescue operation came days after a boat carrying 17 other Albanians arrived on the British coast, having been smuggled ashore illegally by a British sailor who was also jailed on Friday.

In February four Iranians were rescued while trying to reach Britain in a boat which began taking on water, while in June another three men believed to be Iranian were saved by the British coast guard.

Stilwell and Stribling originally claimed they had come to the rescue of the migrants, but later pleaded guilty to conspiring to assist illegal immigration.

In court, judge Jeremy Carey said the defendants had shown “greed, recklessness and deceit and the desire to get easy money.

“A tragedy was averted by a whisker,” he said.

Prosecutor Kris Venkatasami said the incident was an “appalling case” involving vulnerable migrants.

The case prompted Britain to increase its patrols in the English Channel, with the government announcing it would add six more boats to its patrol fleet of three.