Human smuggling

Judo champion is charged over people smuggling plot

A former Judo champion has appeared in court charged in connection with a plot to smuggle illegal immigrants across the Channel.

Robert Stilwell, 33, from Dartford, who represented Great Britain and has held European and Commonwealth titles, was charged alongside 35-year-old Mark Stribling from Dartford after 18 Albanians were rescued from a sinking boat off the Kent coast early on Sunday morning.

The two men, who were also on board the inflatable craft, were remanded in custody after making a brief appearance at Medway Magistrates’ Court in Kent.

...Theresa May has responded to the threat of mass sea borne migration by ordering a new fleet of patrol boats to help crush migrant smugglers in the English Channel.

In a boost for The Telegraph’s borders campaign, the Home Secretary is also creating three permanent command centres in Cornwall, the Thames Estuary and the Humber.

However ministers were on Monday accused by John Vine, the former independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, of ignoring repeated warnings over the vulnerability of England’s smaller ports.