Pair found guilty of smuggling migrants into the UK

Richard Padley, led by Treasury counsel Nicholas Hearn, successfully prosecuted Myrteza Hilaj and Kreshnik Kadena of conspiracy to facilitate the commission of a breach of immigration law after a four week trial at Southwark Crown Court.

The defendants were alleged, over the course of a two year period, to have facilitated the movement of migrants from Albania into the UK either in lorries or by small planes. The case involved the receipt of evidence from France and Belgium using European Investigation Orders, where migrants had been stopped before reaching the UK. Thousands of pages of material were reduced to a schedule of events which allowed the jury to readily grasp patterns of communication between the pair, the individuals seeking to enter the UK, and those assisting them on the continent. Sentencing will take place in May.

 

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