A man who tried to smuggle five illegal immigrants into the country, including three childen aged two to six, has been jailed.

Sam Vaughan was sentenced to three years today, Thursday, March 22, after being convicted by a Jury.

Vaughan had tried to drive away when called in for the screening of his van at Dover Eastern Docks but was stopped when barriers were lowered.

Border Force officers questioned Vaughan, searched his British-registered Ford Transit and found a false wall at the rear.

Hidden behind it were the five stowaways who claimed to be from Iraq.

Vaughan was arrested and the investigation passed to Immigration Enforcement Criminal and Financial Investigation officers.

The discovery was made on the morning of December 29, 2016 and during subsequent interviews Vaughan claimed that he had wanted to buy a van.

He said that a man, whose name he did not know, offered him a test drive of the Ford if Vaughan would go to France to buy beer for him.

Vaughan said he had collected the vehicle two days before the incident, and that it had contained a sat. nav., a mobile phone and £300 for “expenses.”

He then drove from Wales and on arrival in France received a text message with an address in Belgium of where to collect the beer.

While staying in bed and breakfast accommodation in Belgium he received another text message to say the man with the beer had arrived.

The man he found waiting asked Vaughan to give him, a woman and three children a lift.

Vaughan agreed and during the journey they stopped at a service station where Vaughan left the van to get a hot drink.

When he returned, he said the five people had gone, he didn't look for them and went ahead to Calais.

Vaughan confirmed that the man who had asked for a lift was the same person found in the concealment.

He maintained he had not known about the hide but was unable to explain how the group had managed to lock themselves inside when it was fastened with bolts on the outside.

Forensic phone evidence showed Vaughan receiving and sending a number of messages, including details of his bank account and sort code numbers, from an unregistered pre-paid mobile.

Further investigation showed two deposits were made into Vaughan’s bank account on 29 December.

Vaughan 30, of Pen-Llwyn Avenue, Pontllanfraith, Blackwood, Gwent, was charged with assisting unlawful immigration into the UK and was convicted at Canterbury Crown Court.

Paul Morgan, director of Border Force South East and Europe later said: “The distress that must have been caused to this family confined in this small space, with no light and very little access to air, is hard to contemplate. Vaughan’s actions – subjecting people to such conditions, knowing the danger he was putting them in – were abhorrent."

David Fairclough, assistant director at the Immigration Enforcement Criminal and Financial Investigation team, said: “This was a callous attempt on Vaughan’s part to profit from the vile trade of people smuggling. It is thanks to the expertise of my colleagues in Border Force that it was prevented.”

The family group, were passed to immigration officials. Their cases are being dealt with in line with the immigration rules.

Anyone with information about suspected immigration abuse can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 anonymously or visit the website crimestoppers-uk.org