A couple has been sentenced after being caught trying to smuggle asylum seekers into the country inside sofas.

Nicholas Fullwood and his wife were arrested trying to enter Kent at the Channel Tunnel from France.

The married pair, from Chesterfield in Derbyshire, were stopped in their Peugeot Boxer van by Border Force officers in the UK control zone at Coquelles on January 5, 2019.

The couple told officers they were making their way back to the UK from picking up furniture in Lille.

On searching the back of the van, officers found two male Iraqi asylum seekers in the base of two different sofas.

During the investigation, carried out by the Home Office's criminal and financial investigations unit, a third man was identified as being involved in the organisation of the smuggling attempt alongside the Fullwoods.

Azad Ahmadi, of Allenton, Derby, was subsequently arrested and tried alongside his accomplices.

Appearing at Canterbury Crown Court yesterday, the trio were sentenced for conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.

Fullwood, 48, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and was sentenced to three years in jail.

His wife also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years, suspended for two years.

Ahmadi was found guilty after trial and jailed for four years and six months.

Chris Foster, deputy director for Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigations, said: "This is another example of immigration enforcement officers doing brilliant work to stop people smugglers from bringing people unlawfully into the country.

"Although criminals are continuing to adapt their methods of smuggling people, our teams are adept at flexing their approach to bring them to justice."

Minister for Immigration Robert Jenrick added: "We are determined to bring to justice the criminal gangs that undertake the repulsive trade of people-smuggling.

"The Home Office is working night and day to dismantle people-smuggling networks and tackle illegal migration head-on."