Man jailed for smuggling Iranians at Leeds-Bradford Airport
24 September 2009
By Mark Lavery
A PEOPLE-smuggler who brought three Iranian illegal immigrants to Leeds Bradford airport on a Jet2 flight has been jailed.
Former hairdresser Warren Hadfield, 32, tutored the men to cheat immigration controls before the flight from Prague.
Hadfield got through immigration at Leeds-Bradford after claiming he was travelling alone but two of the Iranians, travelling on for ged passports, were held.
Hadfield was arrested at his parents' home in Blackburn.
Bradford Crown Court heard that the third immigrant has not been traced.
Hadfield was recruited by another man while living in Thailand to act as a tutor to the immigrants staying at a Bangkok hotel.
One of the Iranians told Hadfield's function was to teach him English, teach him how to conduct himself in a Western manner and how to answer questions the UK immigration authorities would ask him.
The immigrant set off for the UK on December 27 last year when he flew from Thailand to Turkey. Hadfield met up with him and gave him the Israeli passport, which he then used to fly to Bratislava before travelling by train to Prague.
Prosecutor David Gordon said return tickets to Leeds Bradford for the three Iranians and Hadfield were bought at the same time in Prague and last New Year's Eve last year they all landed at the airport.
Hadfield, who admitted two charges of people-smuggling, was jailed for 30 months. His barrister Derek Duffy said he was not a principal in the operation.