'IMMIGRATION SCAM' TRIAL DROPPED ASWITNESSES DEPORTED
The trial of three people charged after an inquiry into an alleged immigration scam in the UK has collapsed after 13 potential witnesses from Sri Lanka were deported.
The three were charged following raids in September 2010 in Crawley, West Sussex and at Clacket Lane services on the M25 in Surrey.
But the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it had decided not to proceed with the trial at Hove Crown Court.
The case against all three defendants was dismissed on Monday.
The CPS said it gave no evidence because there was no realistic prospect of conviction.
More than 20 raids were carried out by police and UK Border Agency (UKBA) officials following the investigation across Kent, Surrey and Sussex.
In total, about 25 people, mainly believed to be Sri Lankan nationals, were held.
The UKBA said at the time the operation, involving 150 officers, was the biggest of its kind ever undertaken.
It followed an eightmonth investigation into the suspected supply of illegal labour for an employment agency based in Crawley.
One person
was
More than 20 raids were carried out by police and UK Border Agency (UKBA) officials following the investigation across Kent, Surrey and Sussex
charged with assisting unlawful immigration, employing illegal immigrants and concealing criminal property and two others with assisting unlawful immigration.
The CPS said the prosecution case relied principally upon the testimony of 18 illegal workers, 13 of whom had been deported.
But an application to allow their statements to be read in place of a court appearance was refused by Judge Paul Tain at an earlier hearing.
Judge Tain criticised UKBA in his ruling, saying it "appeared simply to have given no thought to the detained people as witnesses".
"They simply got on with their task of removing illegal immigrants," he said.
"It doubtless never crossed their minds that prosecution witnesses are supposed to appear in court."
A spokesman for the UK Border Agency said: "This operation successfully led to the arrest of 23 people who were working illegally in the UK.
"We worked with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) during the investigation to try and prosecute those we believed to be behind the illegal working.
(BBC)