Two Men Jailed After Migrants Smuggled Into Sussex By Yacht

(c) National Crime Agency

Two men who ran what prosecutors described as a “premium bespoke taxi service” smuggling migrants across the English Channel into Sussex by yacht have been jailed.

Vladyslav Cherniavskyi, 38, was sentenced to six years in prison, while Oleksandr Yavtushenko, 43, was jailed for five years after both admitted three counts of assisting unlawful immigration at Portsmouth Crown Court.

The pair were arrested after the yacht Uforia was intercepted around four-and-a-half miles off the coast of Chichester in West Sussex on 20 July last year.

Five migrants were found onboard — four Albanian men and a “very young” Vietnamese girl — who were later handed over to immigration authorities, according to the National Crime Agency.

Prosecutor Robin Leach told the court the two men had carried out at least eight crossings, transporting migrants from northern France to the English coast, particularly to Itchenor in Chichester Harbour.

He said some migrants had paid up to €15,000 for the journey, with between three and six people typically carried on each trip.

The court heard Cherniavskyi had bought the yacht for just £15,000.

Sentencing the pair, Judge William Ashworth said they had been part of an “insidious black market draining families of money and perpetuating the misery of illegal immigration.”

He also highlighted concerns that, on one occasion, the pair had transported a young Vietnamese girl travelling alone, who was later taken into foster care after arriving in the UK.

The judge said the operation offered migrants a “premium service”, although the two men were not believed to be the organisers behind the wider network and would likely have received only a portion of the money involved.

Both men are expected to be deported at the end of their prison sentences.

In mitigation, defence lawyer Daniel Reilly said Cherniavskyi had been trying to raise money for medical treatment for his parents.

Meanwhile, William Saunders, defending Yavtushenko, said the qualified sailor had left Ukraine in 2015 and previously worked as a builder and taxi driver in Poland before returning to sailing in Spain and Portugal.

He said his client “deeply regrets and apologises for getting involved.”