Driver of van that had migrants trapped inside had suspicions people were in there

The driver of a refrigerated van that had migrants trapped in a concealed compartment had suspicions there were people inside. Anas Al Mustafa, 43, is on trial accused of smuggling seven people into the UK in a specially adapted van via the ferry between Dieppe, in France, and Newhaven on February 16. Earlier this morning Lewes Crown Court heard crew members on the Seven Sisters ferry had to use an axe to free the migrants from the concealed compartment after “banging and screaming” was heard.

Nick Corsellis, KC for the prosecution, said the migrants called for help because they were being "starved of oxygen and suffering from dehydration" . In a police interview, Al Mustafa, a self-employed builder, said he had first been approached to do a job by a man called Badr who he met when he was last in Syria in January 2024. He was paid £500 in January to drive a van for an MOT test in Liverpool.

He was then given another job by Badr in February and paid £5,000 to drive a vehicle from Belgium and drop it off in England. Al Mustafa said he did not know there were migrants in the van, but because he was being paid £5,000 he had thought that, “maybe this time there is people inside”. The court heard that when further asked by officers why he was being paid this amount to drive an empty van, he replied: “I told you true.

I think there is people inside. Why he pay 5,000 this time? “Why he give me the car (van) one hour before I arrived. I think in my mind why he give me 5.