Migrants hidden in used sofas and armchairs by cross-Channel smugglers

MIGRANTS were hidden in sofas and armchairs for cross-Channel trips.

Unaware “man with a van” drivers were hired to bring back second-hand furniture from France and Belgium.

The motorists were instructed not to help with loading vehicles on the continent and were distracted while it took place. 

But UK Border Force officials in France found the illegals.

And Iranian Arman Rahmani, who entered the country in the back of a lorry in 2016 but was granted asylum, has been jailed for 31 months.

He plotted to smuggle in eight migrants on six occasions in the four months to April 2019.

Video and photos reveal the drivers would not have been able to hear any cries from the migrants, who had paid to be brought to the UK.

The males claimed to be from Iraq and under the age of 18. Home Office Minister Chris Philp said: “This case shows the lengths criminals will go to profit from our broken asylum system by putting people’s lives at risk.”

Rahmani pleaded guilty at Preston crown court on Friday to four counts in breach of UK immigration law.

He will be eligible to be deported at the end of his sentence.