He brought 4 strangers into the UK illegally for his £180 fare
AMAN who helped to bring four people into the UK illegally through the port of Holyhead has been jailed for two years.
Umer Zafar, 36, wanted to travel from his home in Portaloise in the Republic of Ireland to Manchester in connection with his mobile phone business.
He agreed – in return for his £180 fare being paid – to take four passengers who he didn’t know.
When they disembarked at Holyhead in September 2018, his passengers, who were all members of the same family from Afghanistan, did not have passports or identification papers and were entering the UK ille- gally, said prosecuting barrister Simon Mintz.
The court heard that three of the four had since been allowed to stay after being granted asylum, and a decision was awaited on the fourth person.
Zafar, of Rathevan, Portaloise, admitted four charges of assisting unlawful immigration.
The judge, Mr Recorder Simon Mills, sitting at Mold Crown Court, said it was a serious offence as demonstrated by the maximum sentence of 14 years.
Deterrent sentences were called for to dissuade others from acting as he had done in the future.
Zafar had four people in his car and he intended to drop them off in Manchester, the court heard.
The judge said people acted in that way in the hope that their documents would not be checked at Holyhead, which received ferries only from the Republic of Ireland.
The defendant was the driver who had booked the tickets but he had not put the other people at any kind of risk, other than being caught.
While he did not know at the time, at least three turned out to be genuine refugees, rather than economic migrants, the court heard.
Mr Mintz said that, at about midnight on September 19, 2018, the defendant disembarked from the Dublin to Holyhead ferry with four passengers.
They were said to be of
Irish nationality and visiting relatives, but checks showed that they were entering the UK illegally.
The defendant said he believed that they had visas, but he had not checked when he met them that day outside a Dublin hotel.
Zafar, a man of no previous convictions, said he had been stupid to get involved for so little reward.
Jonathan Austin, defending, said his client was a family man married to an EU national and had two children.
He said his client had voluntarily returned from the Republic of Ireland to be interviewed and had been remanded in custody.
MOTORISTS were pictured attempting to drive through flood water on the B5109 in Beaumaris between Llangoed and Llanfaes on Anglesey last Wednesday.
Darren Owen filmed four motorists attempting to drive through the seawater just after noon – before the road was closed to traffic.