Migrant smugglers jailed in France

Many illegal immigrants have hidden in lorry containers

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A French court has jailed two British men for trying to smuggle 29 illegal Turkish immigrants into Britain, the UK Foreign Office says.

Magistrates in Boulogne, northern France heard that the would-be immigrants suffered cramped conditions in their hiding place -- the back of a converted Ford Transit van -- and several of the women fainted.

The men received sentences of 15 and six months respectively.

The 29 immigrants, who included women and children, had been packed tightly into a secret compartment in the back of the vehicle, which boarded a P&O ship on Christmas Eve at 4 a.m.

Loading staff became suspicious after hearing noises from inside the vehicle and alerted French police.

"Consular staff will be getting in touch with the men today. We do not know what the actual charges are," a Foreign Office spokesman told CNN.com Europe.

The sentencing came one day after another French court sentenced pregnant mother-of-two Sheena Tuckfield, 37, to prison for three months for attempting to smuggle two illegal immigrants into Britain in the boot of her car.

Both the men and Tuckfield were caught by P&O staff at Calais.

P&O launched a crackdown on immigrants using its ships to illegally enter Britain on December 6. Its has employed security guards to check every lorry, van and car boarding its ferries at Calais for stowaways or human cargo.

A P&O spokeswoman said that since the launch of the scheme 401 immigrants had been found by its staff.

The company is responding to strict new rules imposed by the British government that impose high fines on companies ferrying illegal immigrants into the country, irrespective of whether they know about them or not.

P&O Ferries
UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office
France in Europe

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