Smu mg Germans jailed
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Two Germans have been jailed for attempting to smuggle 13 Asians into Dover hidden in the back of a truck.
At Canterbury Crown Court last week, Judge Jonathan Langdon told Karl Heinz Heltwig that it was a "serious and prevalent offence" for which the maximum penalty was seven years' imprisonment.
Jailing Heltwig for three years, Langdon told him: "You played a significant role in this sophisticated operation and although there is no evidence you benefited commercially, clearly you were not doing it for anything other than a commercial purpose."
Co-defendant Hans Dieter Pauli was told by Langdon that he had been Heltwig's servant, having been recruited by him, and had constructed the hiding place in the lorry. He was jailed for two years.
The Asians were discovered hiding among a load of electrical goods in October 1996.
Hellwig was driving the truck with Pauli as a passenger.