Ramsgate migrant-smuggling bid pair plead guilty

Bradley Turner and John Sheppard were on board the boat with the four Iraqi nationals

Two men have admitted conspiring to smuggle four migrants into Kent in a fishing boat.

Bradley Turner and John Sheppard were detained along with four Iraqis, including a pregnant woman, after being rescued eight miles off Ramsgate.

Turner, 38, from Canvey Island, Essex, pleaded guilty at Canterbury Crown Court to conspiring to facilitate a breach of immigration law.

Sheppard, 67, of Saffron Walden, earlier admitted the same charge.

They were arrested after being found on board the vessel with the Iraqi nationals, which also included a child and two men, on 9 August 2018.

Border Force officials were called to Ramsgate Harbour last August

Turner, of Central Walk Road, and Sheppard, of Radwinter Road, are due to be sentenced on Thursday.

Judge Simon James warned them that only immediate imprisonment could be justified.

A third man, Jake Sesay, 30, of Harrow Road, Clacton, was formally found not guilty after prosecutors decided to offer no evidence against him.