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Immigrant smuggling pair jailed Immigrant smuggling pair jailed
(10 minutes later)
A French local councillor and her son have been jailed for helping to smuggle 16 Vietnamese immigrants into the UK.A French local councillor and her son have been jailed for helping to smuggle 16 Vietnamese immigrants into the UK.
Christiane Chocat, 51, of Lumigny-Nesles-Ormeaux, France, admitted hiding the group in a vehicle which arrived at Portsmouth on a ferry in 2009.Christiane Chocat, 51, of Lumigny-Nesles-Ormeaux, France, admitted hiding the group in a vehicle which arrived at Portsmouth on a ferry in 2009.
Her son Benjamin, 20, of Choisy-Le-Roi, France, pleaded guilty to the same offence last month.Her son Benjamin, 20, of Choisy-Le-Roi, France, pleaded guilty to the same offence last month.
They were sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court to three years and five years respectively.They were sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court to three years and five years respectively.
Shrimp noodles
Ms Chocat is a local authority councillor in her home town.
The prosecution claimed the Vietnamese immigrants were brought into the UK in a hired van on the Normandy Express ferry from Cherbourg.
The 13 men and three women were found hidden behind boxes of shrimp noodles.
All were detained by Hampshire Constabulary and the UK Border Agency and returned to France the same evening.