Canterbury Crown Court heard how on 22 March 2016, a car was stopped by Border Force officers at the UK Control Zone in Coquelles, France. The driver was Hamid Alhendi, 42, and he had a passenger in his car.

The passenger presented a Dutch identity card. Border Force officers were not satisfied that the card belonged to the passenger. The passenger was found to be an Iraqi national and passed to the French authorities.

Deputy Director Dave Smith, from Border Force South East and Europe, said:

Border Force officers quickly recognised that the passenger’s documentation wasn’t legitimate.

The expertise of Border Force officers prevented illegal entry into the UK and is an example of the excellent work of our officers every day to stop abuse of our immigration rules.

Alhendi, of Hendale Avenue, Hendon, was arrested at the scene and the case was passed to Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigation (CFI) team.

Alhendi had told Border Force officers that his passenger was a friend of a friend who he had met at a party they had both attended in Paderborn during his trip to Germany. He stated that at the party he had agreed to take the man to London.

Following his arrest, Alhendi’s story changed. He claimed that he had initially agreed to give the man a lift to Amsterdam on his way home, a 2 hour detour. However, on his way out of Germany he damaged one of the front tyres on his car. Not willing to travel all the way to the Netherlands on a damaged tyre he told his passenger that he would instead take him to the UK and pay for his flight from London to Amsterdam.

After a 3 day trial at Canterbury Crown Court Alhendi was found guilty today (23 August) and was sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment.

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

Mr Alhendi’s story simply didn’t add up. Our officers built a strong case to disprove his claims, including showing from phone records that the individuals had been in contact before Alhendi left the UK, despite him claiming they had never met before.

I hope this conviction sends a clear message that people smuggling will not be tolerated and that the consequences for those who engage in such criminality are severe.

Anyone with information about suspected immigration abuse can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 anonymously.

The minister will meet Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and James Lau, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, to discuss trade and investment, economic cooperation and the UK-Hong Kong relationship.

He will also discuss the political situation in Hong Kong with legislators from a range of political backgrounds. He will stress the UK’s continued firm commitment to the Joint Declaration and ‘One Country, Two Systems’, which were put in place to ensure the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and guarantee the city’s rights and freedoms when it was handed back to China in July 1997.

The minister will make clear that it is essential that Hong Kong enjoys, and is seen to enjoy, the full measure of its high degree of autonomy and commitment to the rule of law enshrined in the Joint Declaration and Basic Law.

During the visit he will also take part in a British Council hosted roundtable discussion with Hong Kong’s younger generation.

Mark Field, FCO Minister for Asia and the Pacific, said:

Hong Kong is of great importance to the UK, and our long-standing commitment to Hong Kong as co-signatory of the Joint Declaration is as strong as ever. I am delighted to be the first UK Minister to visit Hong Kong since the 20th anniversary of the handover earlier this year.

The UK remains committed to strengthening its deep and wide-ranging relationship with Hong Kong across a number of areas, including trade and investment, education, culture, innovation and technology, and I look forward to discussing these issues and more during my visit.

The visit will be the second stop of the Minister’s tour of Asia, which also includes mainland China, South Korea and Singapore.

Notes to editors

1. The visit is Mark Field’s first to Hong Kong since becoming Minister for Asia and the Pacific at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in June 2017.
2. Hong Kong is UK’s 15th largest market for goods and services combined, exporting £8.8bn in 2015.
3. Hong Kong is the third largest sending market of undergraduate students to UK universities.

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The Maritime & Coastguard Agency has made a new appointment to the vital role of Secretary of State’s Representative (SOSRep) Maritime Salvage & Intervention, which oversees the response to accidents at sea. Les Chapman has been appointed to the role and will join the Agency on Monday 21 August. He will work alongside the existing SOSRep Hugh Shaw OBE for several months, to allow a substantial transition period in this important role, and will not assume the role and responsibilities of the SOSRep until an agreed time later on in the year.

The SOSRep is responsible for reducing the risk to safety and the environment arising from accidents at sea. Recent incidents which were overseen by the current SOSRep Hugh Shaw include the Transocean Winner rig grounding off the Isle of Lewis in 2016 and the Hoegh Osaka car carrier incident in the Solent in 2015. Mr Chapman is no stranger to the maritime world, having graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada and served in both the UK’s Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy – as part of the former, he qualified for nuclear submarine command and held four command appointments. Over the course of a career spanning the maritime, security and transportation industries, Les has also worked with a number of commercial maritime organisations including Associated British Ports Ltd, DNV and The Maritime Group. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology, the Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency Management and the Nautical Institute, a Liveryman of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners, The Worshipful Company of Arbitrators, The Worshipful Company of Shipwrights and a Younger Brother of Trinity House. Les Chapman said: “The SOSRep role can be a difficult but very rewarding one as it’s all about providing protection and safety in the maritime world. I’m looking forward to working alongside Hugh Shaw as I familiarise myself with all aspects of the job.”

Sir Alan Massey, Chief Executive of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, commented: “We are committed to safety of life and the environment at sea through safer lives, safer ships, cleaner seas. As we have seen from many serious incidents in UK waters over recent years, the SOSRep has a unique and critical role in rapidly and effectively marshalling the resources of all parties to achieve the best possible outcomes. I am delighted we have appointed Les Chapman as our new SOSRep. Les brings highly relevant skills and experience with him and I am sure he will be an excellent successor to Hugh Shaw OBE, who has done a superb job over the years in growing the effectiveness and influence of the SOSRep role.”

These matters are set out in para 8.77(d) of the 2013 Immigration Specification, and are subject to cost limits as described at paragraphs 8.80 to 8.89 of that specification.

CWA, the system onto which such claims are reported, does not contain validation to enforce such cost limits.

Providers should ensure that the costs claimed in their submission do not exceed the limit that applied at the time they were incurred.

For example, if costs totalling £835 have been incurred, but the cost limit was £800, then costs reported should be limited to £800. CWA will not automatically limit costs to the applicable cost limit.

Where the reasonable costs of attendance at an interview with the Home Office are to be claimed, you should enter ‘1’ in the Home Office interview field. The total profit costs incurred, subject to any agreed limit, including these additional reasonable costs, should then be reported in the ‘Profit Costs exc VAT’ field.

The guidance for reporting controlled work matters will shortly be updated to clarify this point.

Further information

2013 Standard Civil Contract (Immigration)

The travel costs of a client for the purposes of attending their office to give instructions, are payable under the immigration contract.