Rochdale men sentenced for immigrant smuggling

Two men from Rochdale have been sentenced for their part in helping to smuggle two illegal immigrants out of the country as they tried to flee the credit crunch.

Mohammed Javed, 39, and Arif Mahmoud, 34, admitted trying to get the men out of the country in the boot of their Ford Mondeo. The immigrants were found by border control officers at Dover docks on 15 March.

Javed, who was driving the car, refused to open the boot of the car when asked to do so by the officers. They opened the boot themselves and discovered the illegal immigrants, who have not been named. Mr Mahmoud, the passenger, told Canterbury Crown Court that they knew the men were in the back of the car.

They met the illegal immigrants in Rochdale and agreed to take them to France to escape the British economic prospects. The immigrants paid for the car hire, ferry tickets and petrol.

The Rochdale men were sentenced to nine-month suspended sentences and ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work.