Overview

• Denice Blendell and Andrew Stainton were sentenced at Hull Crown Court to one year eight months and three years nine months, respectively, for people-smuggling offenses.
• The pair attempted to smuggle five Vietnamese migrants into the UK via the Eurotunnel in March 2022, hiding them under an old mattress and motorbike parts in an unregistered van.
• A Home Office investigation revealed the two were part of a larger organised crime gang, earning £2,000 per migrant and depositing £14,000 from earlier smuggling trips.
• Border Force officers intercepted the van at Coquelles, France, preventing the migrants from enduring further dangerous conditions during their journey.
• The case highlights intensified UK efforts to combat people-smuggling through cross-border collaboration and stricter enforcement measures targeting organised crime networks.