Romanian people smuggler jailed for stuffing migrants into van compartment

Last December, Varlieriu Lordatii, 24, attempted to enter the UK with the van, using the car ferry from the Hook of Holland to Essex.

Border Force officers at Harwich International Port searched the vehicle and discovered the overcrowded sleeping compartment.

Minister for Illegal Migration, Michael Tomlinson said: “People smugglers don’t care if their passengers live or die, as long as they pay.

“Our message is clear – if you put lives at risk, you will face the full weight of the law and we will ensure you leave the UK as soon as possible.”

Two of the migrants found in the van claimed asylum on entry to the UK, the remaining five did not claim asylum, were deemed illegal entrants, and were immediately returned to the Netherlands.

Lordatii was sentenced to three years for facilitation and illegal entry into the UK and could now be deported from the UK after referral to the Home Office.

Chris Foster, Deputy Director of Criminal and Financial Investigations at the Home Office said: “This shocking case shows that people smugglers are going to increasingly extreme lengths to make their money.

“If anything had happened on that ferry, seven people would have been unaccounted for and trapped.

“The sentence shows that those who abuse our borders and our laws will be caught and will face justice and then, where possible, be removed from the country.”

Lordatii's conviction follows similar recent cases.

At Ipswich Crown Court earlier this month, a man was jailed for two years and eight months after attempting to smuggle people in a dangerously overcrowded yacht.

And at the end of January a man was jailed for two-and-a-half years at Canterbury Crown Court for cramming a Vietnamese woman behind a car dashboard.