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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. |