TWO Brit people smugglers have been jailed after charging would-be asylum seekers for perilous Channel crossings aboard a flimsy pleasure boat.
John Frizell, 46, and Andrew Walsh, 38, were found guilty of putting passengers at serious risk by loading them onto a vessel not fit for purpose without life jackets.
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Two British smugglers have been found guilty of planning perilous Channel crossings Credit: Getty
The suspects were arrested in the French fishing port of Saint-Valery-en-Caux Credit: Gary Stone
Rouen Criminal Court in Normandy heard on Wednesday how the pair were arrested last month in the fishing port of Saint-Valery-en-Caux.
A woman – who cannot be named for legal reasons – was also detained.
Prosecutors said the group had travelled on a small pleasure craft to collect migrants off the French coast.
Public prosecutor Sébastien Gallois, said: “Law enforcement arrested three British smugglers, two men and a woman, who came in a pleasure boat to pick up eleven migrants of Syrian or Pakistani nationality.”
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The group had travelled to collect the migrants off the coast of France Credit: Getty
A three-year-old girl was among those trying to travel to the UK Credit: Getty
Five migrants, including a three-year-old girl, were found onboard the vessel with Frizell, while his accomplice was found on a nearby dock.
A further six migrants were arrested in connection with the attempted crossing.
Those detained said they had each paid more than £870 for passage from the infamous Calais migrant camp nicknamed “The Jungle”.
Gallois said: “The evidence gathered, including interviews with the migrants and video surveillance footage, confirmed our suspicions.
“The woman partially admitted the crimes after being placed in custody, while the two men categorically denied them.”
All three now face various charges including aiding and abetting illegal entry.
The unnamed woman will be dealt with by the French authorities at a later date, and remains under judicial supervision.
The pleasure craft set sail on April 8 – the same day four UK-bound migrants died in the Channel after being swept away in an overcrowded dinghy.
Investigators said Frizell had bought the eight-metre boat back in January, and it was registered in Littlehampton, West Sussex.
They added it was not designed to carry migrants, and could easily have sunk in the English Channel.
Frizell was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, time he has already been serving on remand since April.
Walsh, a former British Army soldier, received a 15-month suspended sentence.
Lawyers for both men had sought acquittals, arguing the vessel never left port.
Frizell even claimed he had not intended to profit, saying he was merely helping a friend.
Prosecutors in Rouen, however, described the pair as committed smugglers who treated people “like objects, like merchandise with a price tag.”
Both men, already banned from entering the Netherlands, have also been permanently banned from French territory.
