Driver of van hiding migrants thought ‘maybe’ people were inside, court hears

Anas Al Mustafa, 43, is on trial accused of smuggling the seven people into the UK in a specially adapted van on February 16.

Crew on board the Seven Sisters used an axe to free people trapped inside the van, the court heard (PA) (PA Archive)

The driver of a refrigerated van accused of smuggling migrants concealed in a hiding spot “the width of a human chest” told police officers he thought “maybe” there was people inside, a court has heard.

Seven migrants were rescued from the space as they travelled on board a ferry to the UK after crew heard banging and screaming for help as they were being starved of oxygen.

Anas Al Mustafa, 43, is on trial accused of smuggling people into the UK inside a specially adapted van via a ferry between Dieppe, in France, and Newhaven, in East Sussex, on February 16.

Jurors at Lewes Crown Court heard how the crew on the Seven Sisters ship heard pleas from inside a van on deck and used an axe to break down the fake partition that was hiding the people inside to free them.

Opening the case, prosecutor Nick Corsellis KC said the hidden compartment was two metres wide, 194cm tall and 37cm in narrow width, which forced the migrants to stand, and they could not move to any meaningful degree.

They were not provided with water, the prosecutor added.

Mr Corsellis said: “The heat created by seven people in such a small space and the lack of sufficient air/oxygen had created a highly dangerous situation.

“It was no doubt this mortal emergency that forced the migrants to call for help in desperation.”

The group were rescued at around 9.20am. By that point, two of the migrants had lost consciousness, the prosecutor added.

An Australian nurse and passenger on the ferry, Sari Gehle, responded to a call to assist the crew and described the female casualty as “terrified”, gripping her arm tightly repeatedly saying: “Vietnam, Vietnam”, so she understood the group were from there.

Other male casualties she recalled being on the floor, with one vomiting, and another with a cut across his left shoulder. All of them were given oxygen masks.

Meanwhile, efforts had been made to contact the driver on board the ship, Al Mustafa, but the crew received no response.

In a statement, the captain of the ship, Xavier Fontenit, said when the driver eventually appeared he “didn’t seem to understand what was going on”, but did not attempt to assist those taking part in the rescue and looked at his smartphone.

The captain added: “He was looking surprised. He remained in the garage saying nothing until he was taken ashore by police.”

Mr Corsellis also said Ms Gehle noticed one person “stood out” in the situation, who she described as an Asian man with a Puffa-style jacket who was “sitting on the ground seemingly scrolling through his mobile telephone, and was remarkably calm, in her view”.

Mr Corsellis said that man was the defendant.

The migrants were taken to hospital and treated, he added.

Al Mustafa was arrested on suspicion of trafficking the migrants, and when questioned by police he told them that he had come to the UK in 2011 and worked as a self-employed builder, the court heard.

He had moved to the UK from Syria, and told police when he was last in Syria in January he was introduced to a man called Badr who said he needed him to do a job for him driving a van.

Al Mustafa said he did this on a previous occasion and was paid £500 to drive a van to Liverpool for an MoT test, but for the February job he was being paid £5,000 to drive a vehicle from Belgium to the UK, the court heard.

Jurors heard that Al Mustafa told police he did not know there were people in the van but because he was being paid £5,000 he thought “maybe this time there is people inside”.

When further asked by officers why he was being paid this amount to drive an empty van, he replied: “I told you true. I think there is people inside. Why he pay 5,000 this time? Why he give me the car (van) one hour before I arrived. I think in my mind why he give me 5,000? Then sure there is people in back.”

Mr Corsellis asked the jury to consider whether this is a confession, adding: “We suggest that the defendant was not telling the full truth as to his involvement in the trafficking.”

Jurors heard that investigations following Al Mustafa’s arrest discovered he had been researching refrigerated units and that footprints consistent with the defendant’s were found on the bonnet of the van, where the entrance to the hidden compartment can be accessed.

Al Mustafa, of Swansea, denies assisting unlawful immigration to the UK and the trial continues.