Immigration

A 54-year-old man has been remanded in custody after being charged with arranging or facilitating the illegal entry into the UK of 13 people who were discovered in the back of a lorry at Ransomes Industrial Estate in Ipswich.

The HGV driver, Enrico Ferraris, 54, from Italy, was arrested on Thursday 25 May after police were called to the Ransomes Industrial Estate in Ipswich at around 10.40am.

Officers found 13 people in the back of a lorry. Nine people were subsequently arrested on suspicion of entering the UK illegally. Four people are believed to be under the age of 18 and were taken into Police Protective Custody.

Read more

The HGV driver was taken to Martlesham Police Investigation Centre for questioning. He was subsequently charged with arranging or facilitating illegal entry into the UK and has since appeared before Ipswich Magistrates Court. His next hearing will be in Ipswich Crown Court on 26 June.

Suffolk Constabulary said officers are continuing to liaise with Home Office Immigration Enforcement.

In February this year the government increased fines for lorry drivers, who inadvertently bring stowaways into Britain, from £2,000 to £10,000 per migrant.

The Home Office defended the move on the grounds that the previous fine of £2,000, imposed under the Clandestine Entrant Civil Penalty Scheme, was not sufficient to prompt drivers to properly secure their vehicles and had not changed in 20 years. The changes also included a new penalty for failing to adequately secure a goods vehicle, even if the vehicle is found not to contain illegal immigrants.

Topics