A Vietnamese man suffered a “life-limiting stroke” after being rescued from a tiny hidden compartment in a lorry with six other people being smuggled into the UK.
The group was packed so tightly inside a space “the width of a human chest” that none could move their arms, a Home Office investigator has said.
Their cries were heard on a ferry after they were starved of oxygen and became dehydrated, a court heard. Another male occupant had a suspected heart attack while a woman suffered an acute kidney injury, it emerged.
Anas Al Mustafa, 43, has been convicted of assisting unlawful migration by trafficking the seven people in a specially adapted vehicle via a ferry between Dieppe, in France, and Newhaven, East Sussex, on 16 February.
The discovery at the port led to a major emergency services response. Ambulances, police and Border Force attended and all seven people were taken to hospital.
After the jury’s unanimous verdict at Lewes crown court on Thursday, the prosecutor, Nick Corsellis KC, said that while the younger people recovered from the dehydration and heat, one man had a possible heart attack, one woman had acute kidney injury and another man went to hospital in a comatose state and had a stroke.
Speaking after the verdict, Chris Foster, the Home Office’s criminal investigations regional lead for London and the south, said: “Frankly, how somebody didn’t die I don’t really know.
“They were very fortunate overall, but that has nothing to do with Mr Al Mustafa. He is the man responsible and it sends a really strong message.”
Foster said that while six of the patients made a full recovery, the man who had a stroke suffered “life-limiting” effects from it.
“He suffered a stroke that we believe to be as a direct result of being held in that van and, even today, now, he has difficulty walking and he suffers with memory loss. So it is life-limiting for him,” he said.
The victims were found concealed in the rear of the van behind a fitted panel, which could be accessed only by a tiny hole measuring 22in.
The hidden compartment was only 2 metres wide, leaving the six men and one woman squashed alongside each other without the ability to move their arms from their sides.
The court heard this week that the group was heard banging and calling for help in the overheated van on the ferry as they were starved of oxygen. They were later taken to hospital and treated for heat exhaustion.
Mustafa was arrested at the scene for trafficking people into the country illegally. As he was arrested, he frantically deleted material from his mobile phone that was discovered later as the extent of his crimes unravelled.
Foster said six of the seven had applied for asylum in the UK and an investigation was continuing into further involvement of others in the case.
Angela Eagle, the minister for border security and asylum, said: “This appalling incident could have easily ended in tragedy, and everyone who was squashed inside this criminal’s van is incredibly lucky to still be alive.”
