Four asylum-seekers who were jailed for helping to steer small boats across the channel have today won their appeal against their convictions (21 December 2021). The Court of Appeal recognised that the Crown Court in Kent where the men were convicted and sentenced had made “fundamental” errors and quashed their convictions.
The court heard submissions that the defendants’ sole intention was to claim asylum in the UK, that they wished to make themselves known to authorities to do so, and that there was therefore no attempt at clandestine entry. However, in the case of GZ, JCWI’s client, he was wrongly advised that he had no legal defence on this basis and so was advised to plead guilty.
The court found, “In truth, this guilty plea was not entered simply because counsel gave wrong advice.  It was entered because a heresy about the law had been adopted by those who were investigating these cases, and passed on to those who prosecuted them, and then fur…