JAILED, DJ CAUGHT WITH 9 MIGRANTS HIDDEN IN HIS VAN
A DJ caught trying to smuggle nine illegal migrants into Britain through the Channel Tunnel has been jailed for four and a half years.
Disc jockey Kristopher Salt, 27, was driving a van stopped by UK Border Force officers on the French side of the tunnel in May 2016.
He told officers he had hired the van to go to Brussels and buy second-hand tyres which he intended to re-sell in the UK.
Salt was ordered to open the back of the van and the illegal migrants were found in a small space among the stacks of tyres. The group comprised three adults and six minors, including a one-year-old.
The migrants, who claimed they were from Iraq, were passed to the French authorities.
Salt, from Barlestone, Nuneaton in Leicestershire, was arrested and the case passed to Immigration Enforcement Criminal and Financial Investigation (CFI) officers.
During questioning Salt claimed he was a self-employed DJ but the income wasn’t regular and he had heard that buying and importing tyres, then re-selling them in the UK, was a good investment. He said he had been unaware of the migrants hidden in the van, but a text message on his mobile phone from an unknown third party indicated he was an active participant in the attempt to breach the UK’s immigration controls and that he was being paid for his involvement.
Salt was charged with assisting unlawful immigration into the UK and was found guilty by a jury at Canterbury Crown Court in Kent.
Paul Morgan, director of Border Force South East and Europe, said: ‘Salt was happy to subject people, including small children, to the dangers associated with being transported in such conditions.
‘Border Force officers will continue to work with law enforcement colleagues to ensure that people smugglers and traffickers, whose actions so often put the lives of others at risk, face the consequences of their crimes.’
David Fairclough, of the CFI, added: ‘Salt’s claim that he was not aware of the migrants hidden in the van was implausible, especially when considered in conjunction with the mobile phone message. I hope this case sends a clear message to anyone tempted to get involved with this kind of criminality.’
‘I hope this case sends a clear message’