Court rejects appeal of car boot migrant

Amir Merikhi was handed a ten-week jail term suspended for 12 months by a judge in the Magistrate’s Court earlier this year after he was found by Customs officials hidden in a Vauxhall Corsa that had travelled between France and Jersey on the Condor Rapide in January.

The Iranian-born migrant was granted asylum earlier this year and has since moved to the UK.

During an appeal hearing yesterday, Advocate Pierre Landick, representing Merikhi, suggested that a binding-over order or community service would be a more appropriate sentence.

The court – comprising Jurats Michael Liston and Sally Sparrow, with Commissioner Sir Michael Birt presiding – agreed that the sentence should stand. They will outline their reasons for the decision at a later date.

Sir Michael said that the original judge – Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris – was right to impose a sentence which ‘ensures Jersey is not used as a back door for those seeking entry to the UK’.

Read more in Friday’s JEP

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