Mother accused of helping to smuggle 12 Vietnamese

Mother accused of helping to smuggle 12 Vietnamese

Katy Bethel, 28, from Gillingham, pictured, was a passenger in the works vehicle driven by Aaron Harris carrying 12 Vietnamese illegal immigrants

A mother of four who allegedly tried to smuggle 12 Vietnamese nationals through the Channel Tunnel while pregnant told a court she had simply gone to France to buy alcohol to celebrate the impending birth of her fourth child.

Katy Bethel was stopped in Coquelles, France by UK border force agents who opened the back of her rented Mercedes Sprinter van to find a pair of jean-clad legs sticking out of a stack of tyres.

The 28-year-old was a passenger in the works vehicle driven by Aaron Harris, also 28. 

He has pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration but Bethel denies she knew what he was doing.

She said in court: 'When I'm tire d I don't take much notice of what is going on around me.'

Maidstone Crown Court heard he told the officer when stopped at the UK control zone in that everything in the van belonged to him except the tyres. 

Prosecutor Michael Morris said: 'Upon opening the doors the officer saw what appeared to be jeans or jean legs within the tyres.

'He asked "What's that then?" and Aaron Harris replied "How did he get in?"

'There were 12 Vietnamese nationals concealed in that load of tyres. All were illegal entrants trying to get into the UK.'

Bethel, from Gillingham in Kent, denies assisting unlawful immigration on July 4, 2015.

Harris, also from Gillingham, initially claimed the tyres belonged to his boss but the jury was told at the start of Bethel's trial that he has since pleaded guilty to the sa me charge.

Mr Morris said the prosecution case was that Bethel 'knew or had reasonable cause for believing' she and Harris were carrying out a breach of immigration law.

Giving evidence yesterday Bethel became upset as she maintained she knew nothing about the Vietnamese people hidden just feet from her passenger seat.

Asked whether she had tried to smuggle them into the UK to 'make some money' for the birth of her child, she replied: 'I have never had any money. I always get by on what I can.'

The court heard Bethel told her lawyers that she and Harris travelled to France to buy alcohol for a party for her newborn baby.

But when asked during her trial why no booze was found in the vehicle, she said they never bought any because they 'kept getting lost'.

She also said she felt ill and did not pay attention to the numerous calls and texts being made by Harris.

The illegal immigrants were discovered when a UK border force official spotted a pair of jean-clad legs sticking out of a tyre stacked in the rear of the Mercedes Sprinter van (stock image)

'I felt sick, I was tired and obviously pregnant. When I'm tired I don't take much notice of what is going on around me,' she explained.

'At the time his phone went off all day, every day. It was just normal. I didn't think about it, I wasn't listening in on his conversations. I didn't do that.'

Bethel also told the court she and Harris had left the van to go for a walk for up to an hour-and-a-half but she did not know he had left the vehicle key behind for another man.

Following her arrest, Bethel's iPhone revealed numerous internet searches for van hire were made the day before they travelled.

When interviewed, she made no comment to most questions. She told the jury she was advised by a solicitor to do so as she was feeling ill and 'wasn't up for a conversation'.

She denied her account of what happened was 'nonsense' or that she was trying to 'wriggle out' of any blame.

The court heard Harris told officials when stopped that he and Bethel had been across the Channel for the first time on a day-trip.

He made no comment during his subsequent interview. The trial continues.                                   

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