Sunday 13 October 2024
Select a region
News

Community service for mum who smuggled brother-in-law into Jersey

Community service for mum who smuggled brother-in-law into Jersey

Friday 04 November 2016

Community service for mum who smuggled brother-in-law into Jersey

Friday 04 November 2016


A 28-year-old woman from Yorkshire who tried to smuggle her brother-in-law into the Island in the boot of her car earlier this year has been given 312 hours community service - the equivalent of two years in prison.

Amanda Marreakhy, a mother of three young children, with a fourth on the way, was caught by Customs when she arrived off the ferry from France on 1 February.

The Court heard how she'd told officers she'd been working in Paris as a journalist, that she was meeting her husband and children in Jersey and then returning to the UK. She told them she had nothing to declare but when they searched the car, they found her brother-in-law in the boot.

Crown Advocate Matthew Maletroit said: "This case involves a serious breach of the Island's immigration laws."

He said the Island needs to adopt a policy to deter repetition, that we shouldn't adopt anything more lenient here than in the UK and that it warranted two years in prison.

But Defence Advocate William Bell said this was an exceptional case.

He said: "[this is] A case where my client assisted a family member in desperate need, not a family member in an ordinary situation, one who was genuinely seeking political asylum and genuinely feared for his life.

"No-one in this court, other than Mrs Marreakhy is likely to find themselves in the position where they are asked. It is hard to imagine the dilemma if a family member were in such a situation and you were asked for help.

"She didn't act for financial gain, for no motivation, other than her compassion and humanitarian concern for her brother-in-law."

Deputy Bailiff Tim Le Cocq said: "We understand the context of this case, that this was a member of your family and we appreciate fully the emotional concerns that underpinned this case."

He went on to say the Court needed to look at the principals that were articulated during her husband's appeal and that Jersey only lies a short distance from the French coast and is at real risk of being used as a back door into the United Kingdom.

He said: "There is no doubt that this was a premeditated offence and was in the planning for a number of days and in our view cases of this nature would carry a considerable custodial sentence.

"We have searched anxiously to see whether we can find exceptional circumstances and among the circumstances we take into account this was a member of your family, that you have young children, that you are their primary carer and that you are pregnant."

The Royal Court awarded 312 hours community service. 

 

Sign up to newsletter

 

Comments

Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.

You have landed on the Bailiwick Express website, however it appears you are based in . Would you like to stay on the site, or visit the site?