Van driver convicted of smuggling migrants found screaming for help on ferry

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A van driver has been found guilty of smuggling migrants in a hidden compartment who were discovered screaming for help as they were starved of oxygen.

Anas Al Mustafa, 43, has been convicted of assisting unlawful migration by trafficking the seven people in a specially-adapted van via a ferry between Dieppe, in France, and Newhaven, East Sussex, on February 16.

The discovery at the East Sussex port sparked a major emergency services response, with ambulances, police and Border Force in attendance.

Jurors at Lewes Crown Court heard how the six men and one woman were being starved of oxygen and suffering from dehydration in the concealed space which was “the width of a human chest”.

After the jury’s unanimous verdict, prosecutor Nick Corsellis KC told the court that while the younger migrants recovered from the dehydration and heat, one man had a possible heart attack, one woman had acute kidney injury and another man went to hospital in a comatose state and suffered a stroke.

Judge Christine Laing KC said Al Mustafa would likely receive a “substantial custodial sentence” over his role in the trade, the consequences of which can be “devastating” for those trying to enter the country.

The trial heard how crew members on the Seven Sisters ship heard pleas from inside a van on deck during the journey and used an axe to break down the fake partition that was hiding the people inside to free them.

Opening the case, prosecutor Mr Corsellis had said the hidden compartment was two metres wide, 194cm tall and 37cm in narrow width, which forced the migrants to stand, and they could not move to any meaningful degree.

They were not provided with water, the prosecutor added.

Mr Corsellis said: “The heat created by seven people in such a small space and the lack of sufficient air/oxygen had created a highly dangerous situation.

“It was no doubt this mortal emergency that forced the migrants to call for help in desperation.”

Two of the migrants had lost consciousness by the time they were rescued at around 9.20am, and all of the group were taken to hospital and treated, jurors were told.

An Australian nurse and passenger on the ferry, Sari Gehle, responded to a call to assist the crew during the incident and described the female casualty as “terrified”, gripping her arm tightly repeatedly saying: “Vietnam, Vietnam”, so she understood the group were from there.

Other male casualties she recalled being on the floor, with one vomiting, and another with a cut across his left shoulder. All of them were given oxygen masks.

During the trial, Al Mustafa, of Swansea, denied knowing they were in the vehicle and told jurors he was “shocked” and “completely numb” at the discovery.

The father-of-two added it was the “most difficult day of his life”.

The court previously heard how Al Mustafa, who is originally from Syria but moved to the UK in 2010-2011, was introduced to a man called Badr last time he was in Syria who said he needed him to do a job for him driving a van.

The prosecution had said in a police interview with no interpreter Al Mustafa said he was paid £500 on a previous occasion to drive the van to get an MoT in Liverpool, but for the February job he was being paid £5,000 to drive the van to the UK.

Jurors heard that Al Mustafa told police he did not know there were people in the van but because he was being paid £5,000 he thought “maybe this time there is people inside”.

Mr Corsellis asked the jury to consider whether this is a confession, adding: “We suggest that the defendant was not telling the full truth as to his involvement in the trafficking.”

When asked about the interview, Al Mustafa told jurors via an interpreter that the £5,000 sum was incorrect and he meant £500.

He also said he did not remember telling police he thought maybe people were in the van and did not know why he said that.

Instead, Al Mustafa told the court he flew to Amsterdam for a holiday and met Badr at the airport who suggested he drive the same van he previously drove for the MoT to take it back to the garage as there was a fault with the gearbox.

Commenting after the verdict, Lauren Doshi, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The defendant in this case attempted to conceal his involvement in smuggling people into this country.

“A lot of effort had been put into adapting a van to hide people within the back of it in dangerous and potentially life-threatening conditions. All of this was designed to avoid the checks and border controls that we have to prevent unlawful immigration. He put the lives of those that he sought to smuggle into the UK at risk.

“We will seek to pursue any money or assets gained through this criminality with our Proceeds of Crime Division.”

The self-employed construction worker will be sentenced on September 6.