Two men who tried to smuggle seven people into Kent in the boots of their cars have each been jailed for more than three years.

Palvinder Singh Phull and Harjit Singh Dhaliwal pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration after they were caught with the individuals – including women and children – when coming into Dover.

On July 8, 2018, Phull, 48, from Hounslow, was stopped at the UK border, and three Indian nationals claiming to be Afghan Sikhs were found in the boot of his hire car.

Four days after Phull was arrested, on July 12, 2018, co-accused Dhaliwal, 45, from Middlesex, was stopped at the UK border and four Indian nationals, were found in the same position, and made the same claim.

Following an investigation by the Home Office Criminal and Financial Investigations (CFI) unit, the suspects were found to be linked via mobile phone records.

Both defendants pleaded guilty and were sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court.

Phull received three and half years for assisting unlawful immigration while Dhaliwal was jailed for three years and two months for the same offence.

Chris Foster, deputy director of criminal and financial investigations at the Home Office, said: “Today’s sentencing sends a clear message to those abusing our laws and borders: we will stop at nothing to bring to justice anyone attempting to smuggle people into the UK.

“I would like to pay tribute to the hard work of my team, and their tireless efforts to tackle this type of crime.

“We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to disrupt people smuggling gangs and make sure those who break our laws face the consequences."