People smuggler boasted about business – and he may have earned over £185k | UK | News
Jaskirat Singh was jailed (Image: PA)
A 25-year-old people smuggler who boasted of transporting people from England to France in the back of trucks has been jailed. Jaskirat Singh was sentenced to five years and three months in prison at Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday. He was accused by the Crown Prosecution Service of arranging clandestine travel for non-British nationals between December 2024 and March 2026. Earlier this month, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to facilitate illegal immigration.
Evidence seized from the phones included messages arranging transport, videos of a large amount of £20 notes spread out on a bed and a TikTok account apparently advertising cross-channel journeys. In a voice note, Singh boasts that he has been doing this for four years, arranging trips to France for up to 60 people a week for nine months. It is unclear whether he is exaggerating his claim.
Judge Alison Russell said Singh’s business model appeared to be transporting 15 people at a time in HGVs to France through logistics with drivers for pick-up and drop-off, rather than recruiting migrants to travel.
He is believed to have earned more than £185,000 through the effort.
Judge Russell said: “The evidence from the devices shows that you were therefore the coordinator of the work, the logistics manager. I am satisfied that the offense was repeated over a long period of time and significant financial gain was made.”
“You were well aware of the degree of organization and played an important logistical role even if you were not at the top of the chain.”
He added that the harms of storing people in heavy vehicles in “unsafe and cramped conditions” brought significant risks.
Talbir Singh KC, defending Singh, told the court that the defendant came to the UK as an Italian citizen at the age of 18 after his family moved from India to Italy, where he spent most of his life.
Mr Singh said he met most of the conspirators while he was staying with his aunt and uncle in the UK as an adult, working legally in the country and earning £4,000 to £4,500 a month working in construction.
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“It seems unwarranted that he would allow himself to be drawn into a conspiracy when he had no real financial need,” he said.
The defense lawyer said there were allegations that he did not have full control over his bank accounts and that there was “good evidence that he was a subordinate and not the architect of a conspiracy.”
With the help of a Punjabi translator in court, Singh, of Goldthorn Hill, Wolverhampton, pleaded guilty to the single charge earlier this month.
Following the sentencing, Peter Cockrill, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Jaskirat Singh played a significant role in organizing the illegal movement of people from the UK to France using lorries, placing individuals at serious risk in the process.
“Evidence showed he coordinated drivers, arranged payments and actively participated in an operation that lasted months.
“We will now apply for a confiscation order to recover as much of his criminal proceeds as possible.”
