Shops in Blaby linked to people smuggler registered by new firms

Jamal is believed to have been seeking asylum in the UK. He told the BBC he had applied and was “still waiting”.

It is not known what name he used on any application.

UK law says anyone who has spent 12 months or more in prison overseas should be refused asylum.

Jamal was given a five-year jail sentence in France in 2016, where authorities described him as one of the most successful people smugglers ever caught – earning up to £100,000 a week from moving illegal immigrants across the Channel.

At that time, the mode of travel preferred by cross-channel smugglers was freight lorries rather than small boats.

After Jamal told the BBC investigation team he was now based in Leicester, reporters looked at companies in the area that might be linked to him and found the two mini-marts in Blaby.

Reporters witnessed him working, driving a car without a licence and apparently using a false name.

When the team confronted Jamal, he said he had never had any involvement in people smuggling, had not been jailed in France and claimed to have been in the UK since 2009.

But when shown a picture of him in a French courtroom in 2016, he did not deny it was him.

Jamal denied he was working at the mini-mart despite having been seen by reporters behind the till, as well as moving stock in and out of the store.

There is no apparent link between Jamal and the two new companies that have been registered.

The BBC has contacted the director of the new firms for comment.