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This is crazy!
Ex-Britain‘s Strongest Man jailed after smuggling 17 Albanian migrants into the UK on a catamaran
by Denton Staff Contributor — November 29, 2019
Bodybuilder, 44, who was once crowned Britain‘s Strongest Man is jailed for almost three years after smuggling 17 Albanian migrants into the UK on a catamaran
Jimmy Marku (pictured outside Isleworth Crown Court in June) admitted conspiracy to facilitate unlawful migration
A bodybuilder who was once crowned Britain‘s Strongest Man was today jailed for just under three years for smuggling 17 Albanians into the UK on a catamaran.
Jimmy Marku, 44, won the strongman competition in 2008, but four years later he was locked up for nine months for his part in a £65,000 cannabis deal.
The Albanian-born Briton admitted conspiracy to facilitate unlawful migration after the 17 Albanians were found below deck on a boat called Fortunella, at Chichester Marina in May 2016.
Australian Stephen Jackson, the catamaran skipper, also admitted his part in the conspiracy, Isleworth Crown Court heard.
Jimmy‘s brother Jetmir Marku, 36, along with former Tapas bar owner Alex Sefolli, 39, were cleared of involvement in the plot after a lengthy trial.
But Sefolli, who also owned construction companies in Northampton, was convicted of hiring two illegal immigrants as workers in September 2017.
Judge Jonathan Ferris jailed Jimmy Marku for 2 years 11 months.
He told Marku:‘You conspired with Stephen Jackson the boat captain and with others unknown to smuggle 17 Albanian illegal immigrants into the UK on a catamaran called the Fortunella whose purchase had been funded by Alex Sefolli your co-defendant.
‘The 17 Albanians were all men. One of them was a known gangster with previous convictions in the UK for serious crimes including drugs dealing and who had already been deported once from the UK.
‘You were a significant player in this conspiracy with a full understanding of the extent of the conspiracy, the scheme for the transhipment of the illegals, and a significant participant in the events leading up to and including the transhipment of 17 illegal Albanians into the UK.
‘You were, like other conspirators, doing it for money.
‘The benefit of lawful immigration is widely acknowledged, but illegal immigration has contaminated attitudes to all immigration, illegal immigration leads to extensive exploitation in the labour market.
‘The vulnerable illegals are exploited by their knowing employers.
Judge Ferris He told Marku:‘You conspired with Stephen Jackson the boat captain and with others unknown to smuggle 17 Albanian illegal immigrants into the UK on a catamaran‘
‘The value of legal workers in the labour market is undermined to their detriment by the presence of exploited illegals in the same market.
‘Illegal immigration undermines the ability of a modern society to supervise who should have the right to work here and who should not: it deprives the state of the right to exclude gangsters and other criminals who have already been deported, and others.
‘Your involvement in this conspiracy to facilitate was at a more senior executive level than Stephen Jackson‘s, as is apparent from the instructions to him from you on the morning of the departure of the Fortunella, and your long-standing involvement in the conspiracy both in the UK and Albania, and the bridge between him and Albania.‘
Sefolli was given a two years suspended sentence with 200 hours unpaid work and three months‘ curfew 9pm-6.30am.
Judge Ferris said the curfew should not impact badly on Sefolli‘s routine as his work sheets showed he had never arrived before 8am.
Source: Denton Daily
Ex-Britain‘s Strongest Man jailed after smuggling 17 Albanian migrants into the UK on a catamaran
by Denton Staff Contributor — November 29, 2019
Bodybuilder, 44, who was once crowned Britain‘s Strongest Man is jailed for almost three years after smuggling 17 Albanian migrants into the UK on a catamaran
Jimmy Marku (pictured outside Isleworth Crown Court in June) admitted conspiracy to facilitate unlawful migration
A bodybuilder who was once crowned Britain‘s Strongest Man was today jailed for just under three years for smuggling 17 Albanians into the UK on a catamaran.
Jimmy Marku, 44, won the strongman competition in 2008, but four years later he was locked up for nine months for his part in a £65,000 cannabis deal.
The Albanian-born Briton admitted conspiracy to facilitate unlawful migration after the 17 Albanians were found below deck on a boat called Fortunella, at Chichester Marina in May 2016.
Australian Stephen Jackson, the catamaran skipper, also admitted his part in the conspiracy, Isleworth Crown Court heard.
Jimmy‘s brother Jetmir Marku, 36, along with former Tapas bar owner Alex Sefolli, 39, were cleared of involvement in the plot after a lengthy trial.
But Sefolli, who also owned construction companies in Northampton, was convicted of hiring two illegal immigrants as workers in September 2017.
Judge Jonathan Ferris jailed Jimmy Marku for 2 years 11 months.
He told Marku:‘You conspired with Stephen Jackson the boat captain and with others unknown to smuggle 17 Albanian illegal immigrants into the UK on a catamaran called the Fortunella whose purchase had been funded by Alex Sefolli your co-defendant.
‘The 17 Albanians were all men. One of them was a known gangster with previous convictions in the UK for serious crimes including drugs dealing and who had already been deported once from the UK.
‘You were a significant player in this conspiracy with a full understanding of the extent of the conspiracy, the scheme for the transhipment of the illegals, and a significant participant in the events leading up to and including the transhipment of 17 illegal Albanians into the UK.
‘You were, like other conspirators, doing it for money.
‘The benefit of lawful immigration is widely acknowledged, but illegal immigration has contaminated attitudes to all immigration, illegal immigration leads to extensive exploitation in the labour market.
‘The vulnerable illegals are exploited by their knowing employers.
Judge Ferris He told Marku:‘You conspired with Stephen Jackson the boat captain and with others unknown to smuggle 17 Albanian illegal immigrants into the UK on a catamaran‘
‘The value of legal workers in the labour market is undermined to their detriment by the presence of exploited illegals in the same market.
‘Illegal immigration undermines the ability of a modern society to supervise who should have the right to work here and who should not: it deprives the state of the right to exclude gangsters and other criminals who have already been deported, and others.
‘Your involvement in this conspiracy to facilitate was at a more senior executive level than Stephen Jackson‘s, as is apparent from the instructions to him from you on the morning of the departure of the Fortunella, and your long-standing involvement in the conspiracy both in the UK and Albania, and the bridge between him and Albania.‘
Sefolli was given a two years suspended sentence with 200 hours unpaid work and three months‘ curfew 9pm-6.30am.
Judge Ferris said the curfew should not impact badly on Sefolli‘s routine as his work sheets showed he had never arrived before 8am.
Source: Denton Daily
