Husband and wife caught trying to sneak Iraqi migrants into the UK

2023-02-21

Husband and wife who were caught trying to sneak Iraqi migrants into the UK by hiding them in furniture van joined people smuggling ring to help pay off debts, court hears

Married couple Nicholas, 48, and Pamela, 45, Fullwood smuggled Iraqi migrants
Azad Ahmadi, 31, was also involved in hiding the Iraqi migrants within furniture
Two Iraqi men were found in the base of two different sofas in the back of a van

A husband and wife who were caught sneaking migrants into the UK hidden inside sofas, after joining a people smuggling ring to pay off debts, have both been jailed.

Married couple Nicholas, 48, and Pamela, 45, Fullwood along with a third defendant, Azad Ahmadi, 31, smuggled Iraqi migrants into the UK by hiding them in furniture stashed in the back of a van.

The Fullwoods were stopped in their Peugeot Boxer van trying to enter the UK through the control zone in Coquelles, France, on January 5, 2019.

The couple told Border Force officers they were making their way back to Britain after picking up furniture in Lille.

But when the back of their van was searched, two Iraqi men were found in the base of two different sofas.

Nicholas Fullwood(pictured) , 48, and his wife Pamela, 45, smuggled Iraqi migrants into the UK by hiding them in furniture stashed in the back of a van

Azad Ahmadi, 31, smuggled Iraqi migrants into the UK by hiding them in furniture stashed in the back of a van and was sentenced to four years and six months in prison.

At Canterbury Crown Court on Monday, Nicholas Fullwood was jailed for three years, while his wife was handed a two-year sentence, suspended for two years.

Ahmadi, of Allenton, Derby, was sentenced to four years and six months in prison after being found guilty after a trial.

Pictures from the search showed a man’s head poking out of a sofa as authorities searched the vehicle.

During a probe into the pair, another suspect was discovered to be Ahmadi, who ran a carwash in Derbyshire and is believed to have paid them to transport the migrants.

Officers connected him to the Fullwoods through phone work and financial transactions, police said.

All three were charged with conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and the Fullwoods, from Chesterfield, Derbyshire, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

The Iraqi migrants were smuggled into UK after they were hidden in furniture stashed in the back of a van by the couple and a third accomplice

Pictures from the search showed a man’s head poking out of a sofa as authorities searched the vehicle

Robert Jenrick, minister for immigration, said after the sentencing: ‘We are determined to bring to justice the criminal gangs that undertake the repulsive trade of people-smuggling.

‘The Home Office is working night and day to dismantle people-smuggling networks and tackle illegal migration head-on.’

Chris Foster, deputy director for Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigations, added: ‘This is another example of immigration enforcement officers doing brilliant work to stop people smugglers from bringing people unlawfully into the country.

‘Although criminals are continuing to adapt their methods of smuggling people, our teams are adept at flexing their approach to bring them to justice.’

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