Man suffered stroke after being smuggled into UK in crowded van

A Vietnamese man suffered a "lifelimiting stroke" after being rescued from a tiny hidden compartment in a van with six other people being smuggled into the UK.

- Rajeev Syal

The group were packed so tightly inside a space that was "the width of a human chest" that none could move their arms, a Home Office investigator has said.

Their cries were heard on a ferry after they were starved of oxygen and became dehydrated, a court heard.

Another male occupant had a suspected heart attack while a woman suffered an acute kidney injury, it emerged.

Anas AI Mustafa, 43, was convicted yesterday of assisting unlawful migration by trafficking the seven people in a specially adapted van via a ferry between Dieppe, in France, and Newhaven, East Sussex, on 16 February.

The discovery at the port led to a major emergency services response.

Ambulances, police and the Border Force attended and all the migrants were taken to hospital.