Scunthorpe smugglers hid migrants under motorbike parts

People-smugglers who tried to bring five Vietnamese migrants into the UK hidden under rubbish in a van have been jailed.

Andrew Stainton, 48, and Denice Blendell, 62, were caught in March 2022 after Border Force officers searched their unregistered van at the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles, France.

The migrants were hidden underneath an old mattress, clothing and heavy motorbike parts, the Home Office said.

Stainton, of Burringham Road, Scunthorpe, was jailed at Hull Crown Court for three years and nine months for conspiring and acting to facilitate illegal entry into the UK. Blendell, of the same address, was sentenced to one year and eight months.

A Home Office investigation found the pair were working as part of an organised crime gang and had expected to be paid £2,000 each.

It also found they had made previous trips to France and Belgium and had deposited cash totalling £14,000 into their bank accounts.

Dame Angela Eagle, the border security minister, said: “Blendell and Stainton, like many criminal gangs, are only concerned with lining their pockets. They exploited a desperate group of individuals by disguising them under motorcycle parts in the back of their van.

“This type of heinous criminality must be stopped and today’s sentence shows we won’t stand and watch.”

Jason Jowett, of the Home Office criminal financial Investigations team, added: “The migrants were led to believe they were coming for a better life, but found themselves in cramped, dangerous conditions as their exploiters lined their pockets at their expense.

“The criminals running these networks do not care about the welfare of those that they transport. Their sole focus is financial gain.”