People smuggling duo sent to prison

Dmytro Kriuk, 29, and Vladyslav Kurtoglu, 50, were sentenced to three years and nine months and six years in jail respectively at Portsmouth Crown Court after they were caught in a yacht at Hayling Island by Border Force in May last year.

Kriuk – who took a grinning selfie while on the Tazik yacht – admitted assisting unlawful immigration at an earlier hearing at Portsmouth Crown Court.

Vladyslav Kurtoglu, 50, was convicted of the same offence after a trial. The pair were caught near Sparkes Marina.

Prosecutor Philip Meredith told the court how there had been ‘significant planning and resources’ invested into the botched illegal people smuggling voyage.

Forged documents were also used over the authenticity of the boat and right to sail to the UK.

The vessel left France before it was tracked in the Solent where it failed to respond to attempts to pull it over.

When the yacht was finally apprehended there were six Ukrainians on board as well as the two defendants.

A similar case involving Kurtoglu’s brother Hanndii had resulted in him also being caught in Suffolk and sent to prison.

Judge Stephen Climie said: ‘This was an attempt to bring illegal immigrants into the UK. It was well organised and was primarily organised by you Kurtoglu in a fashion that saw this vessel purchased for this attempt.

‘Of those transported there was no suggestion of a humanitarian enterprise with those on board not friends or relatives.’

Lyn Sari from Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigation team said: ‘This was a carefully planned criminal operation. Evidence showed that Kriuk and Kurtoglu had plotted the route into Hayling Island in advance and that they had scouted the embarkation point to ensure they could get people on board away from security cameras. They had even laid a trail of fake paperwork in an attempt to cover their tracks.

‘The relaxed selfie that Kriuk took en route to the UK is indicative of how confident they were of success.’