Soldier ‘plotted to smuggle illegals to UK from Calais’
A BRITISH Army soldier appeared in court yesterday accused of plotting to smuggle illegal immigrants into the UK from Calais.
David Plumstead, who serves in the 1 Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, is accused of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration at Maidstone Crown Court in Kent.
The 24-year-old Lance Corporal, who is based at Barker Barracks in Paderborn, Germany, is accused of committing the offence between March 1 and May 7, 2016.
Zinden Ahmed, 36, of Middlesbrough, is also accused of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration. He is a Kurdish Syrian who runs a carwash business.
Their trial was due to start yesterday, but it was adjourned until October 15 after the judge was made aware of difficulties with the availability of barristers.
Both Plumstead and Ahmed, who was said to require the assistance of an interpreter for the trial, were released on bail.
The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment is an infantry regiment which has been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.