Author Archives: HM Government

Canterbury Crown Court heard how on 14 February 2016 a van was stopped by Border Force officers at the UK Control Zone in Coquelles, France. The driver was Huzaifa Hasan Musa, 22.

Border Force officers searched the van which was filled with furniture. A woman and child were found hidden in 1 cabinet in the load, and 3 men in another. All 5 Iraqi nationals were handed to the French Police Aux Frontieres.

Director Paul Morgan, from Border Force South East and Europe, said:

Musa expressed surprise when the 5 people were found, but they had been quite deliberately hidden. They could not have got there by themselves.

People smugglers like Musa exploit the vulnerable and put lives at risk. Border Force targets its resources on prevention, protection and prosecution activity, working in close partnership with other law enforcement agencies, to prosecute those involved in this criminal trade.

Musa, of Mary Street, Scunthorpe, was arrested at the scene and the case was passed to Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigation (CFI) team.

Musa claimed that he had been to visit his step-grandmother near Dunkirk, though he couldn’t provide an address to officers, and said that he had taken her furniture because she had intended to throw it all away. He later changed his story to say he had taken the furniture with him when he left for his trip.

However, analysis of Musa’s mobile phone identified a string of suspicious messages including one Musa had sent saying as soon as he got through the tunnel he would get paid.

After a 2 day trial at Canterbury Crown Court, Musa was found guilty of assisting unlawful immigration into the UK and sentenced to 3 and a half years’ imprisonment.

Assistant Director David Fairclough, from the Immigration Enforcement Criminal Investigations team, said:

Our officers built a compelling case to prove that Musa’s story was a pack of lies. He claimed the purpose of his visit was to visit family, when in reality he was engaged in people smuggling in order to line his own pockets and with no thought for the safety of those he was transporting.

I hope this case serves as a clear warning that those who try to the UK’s break immigration laws will be brought to justice.

Anyone with information about suspected immigration abuse can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 anonymously or visit http://www.crimestoppers-uk.org.

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Govan-based Thales delivered the first submarine periscope, the FY1, to the submarine M3 in late summer 1917. Since then, every class of RN submarine has been fitted with a periscope or optronics mast designed and built by Thales’ engineers in Glasgow.

Today Thales’ state-of-the-art optronics masts support submarines navigation, warfare and communications systems, including provide thermal imaging and night vision capabilities. The masts can complete a full 360° sweep of the horizon, looking for potential threats, in only a few seconds, providing high definition images of the battle space to commanders before they are detected by an adversary.

Defence Procurement Minister, Harriett Baldwin said:

This anniversary marks a proud record of Scottish engineering contributing directly to UK defence and national security by providing the eyes and ears for our nuclear deterrent and attack submarines.

Generations of highly skilled engineers across Scotland have applied battle winning technologies to meet the needs of their UK armed forces, as well as exporting their innovations to dozens of navies around the world.

Royal Navy submarine M3 was fitted with the first FY1 No.1 periscope.

Victor Chavez, CEO, Thales UK, added:

Arguably our greatest single innovation was introducing a night vision capability to allow submarines to navigate and gather intelligence 24/7.

However, our latest full remote control, non-hull penetrating optronics systems give naval architects more design flexibility by not restricting them to co-locating the fin and the control room via a 50ft long periscope. These options, combined with the digital inboard control and display system, provide commanders with a leap forward in submarine capability.

Optronics masts are electronic imaging systems and do not penetrate a submarine’s hull, but are contained in the conning tower or ‘fin’. They are fitted to all seven of the new Astute-class submarines, the first three of which are already in service from HM Naval Base Clyde.

Thales are currently bidding competitively to have their optronics masts procured for the BAE Systems Maritime build of four new Dreadnought nuclear deterrent submarines which will come into service in the 2030s. The company will conduct sea trials of their latest mast in 2018.

Defence Minister Harriett Baldwin speaking at Thales today.

Thales’ site at Glasgow has 129 years heritage and currently employs 600 people, mainly very highly skilled technical and engineering jobs, designing and building optronics systems for the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force.

From 2020 Scotland’s HM Naval Base Clyde will be home to the entire UK Submarine Service of seven hunter killer and four deterrent submarines.

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