Jersey’s former External Relations Minister has been sentenced to community service for a string of immigration offences.
Appearing in the island’s Royal Court this morning, Deputy Philip Ozouf was handed 120 hours’ community service, while his co-accused, Jersey’s Savoy Hotel director Roberto Lora, was given a fine of £5,000.
He was Jersey’s External Relations Minister for some of the 18 months while he was offending, the court heard.
Lora admitted to one count of breaching the immigration law by assisting Ozouf and allowing one of the Rwandan nationals to work in his home.
“Subverted the system”
Crown Advocate William Redgrave, prosecuting, told Jersey’s court that work permits can only be issued for workers in certain industries, like hospitality, agriculture, and fishing.
When Ozouf tried to get a work permit for one of the Rwandan nationals to work at his laundry, this was refused, the advocate said.
Ozouf “subverted that system”, Advocate Redgrave said, by getting work permits for the employees to work at the Savoy Hotel, but then actually employing them at his laundry.
One worker was already in Jersey and became involved after meeting others, the court heard.
“A degree of exploitation”
With one of the workers still waiting for payment, Advocate Redgrave said it was possible “that there was a degree of exploitation”.
There have been no similar cases in Jersey or in England and Wales, but the Crown Advocate asked the court to sentence Ozouf to 10 months’ imprisonment and give Lora a £5,000 fine.
Advocate James Bell, defending Ozouf, told the court there was no exploitation.
He said the offending was at the lower end of culpability, under a law designed for much more serious offences – and that it was closer to an employment breach.
“His intentions were pure”
Ozouf, he said, was “disorganised” but “his intentions were pure”.
He said the former minister had regularly visited Rwanda since 2012, and that over time, he had been “keen to foster employment opportunities for people from Rwanda in Jersey”.
Ozouf “expresses genuine remorse for the situation”, he said.
He had been personally and reputationally impacted, he said.
“His political career, that he has devoted so much of his life to, is in tatters,” his advocate said.
As well as his community service sentence, Deputy Ozouf was also ordered to pay £5,000 towards the prosecution’s costs.