Kuwaiti migrant who became cross-Channel people smuggler jailed in UK

Hammad Al Shamari receives 30-month sentence for assisting unlawful immigration

Hammad Al Shamari, from Kuwait, was jailed for two and a half years for unlawfully assisting immigration. Photo: Home Office

A migrant who became a cross-Channel people smuggler while trying to reach Britain by piloting a boat has been jailed for two and half years by a UK court.

Hammad Al Shamari, from Kuwait, was arrested in March as he attempted to steer an overcrowded inflatable boat from the French coast towards Dover under the cover of darkness.

The vessel was intercepted by Border Force agents and found to have more than two dozen migrants on board, including five young boys and one girl.

Further inquiries identified Al Shamari as the pilot of the vessel and he was arrested.

Canterbury Crown Court later jailed Al Shamari for two and half years after he was found guilty of assisting unlawful immigration on November 26.

Last month, some 27 people died when a boat capsized in French waters as it attempted to reach British shores last month.

The victims are said to have included an expectant mother, children and a 24-year-old Kurdish woman from northern Iraq trying to reunite with her fiance.

It was the highest death toll on record in the current Channel migrant crisis.

On Wednesday, the government's flagship immigration legislation, the Nationality and Borders Bill, was passed by a majority of MPs.

If it is cleared by the House of Lords, it will potentially allow for offshore processing centres to be set up overseas, akin to policies used in Australia.

It also gives Border Force officers powers to turn migrants away from the UK while at sea, and makes it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK without permission — with the maximum sentence for those entering the country unlawfully rising from six months’ imprisonment to four years.