AN IRISH born-again Christian caught trying to smuggle four Albanian illegal immigrants in a car through a Welsh ferry port was jailed for 21 months on Monday.

A judge also ordered the forfeiture of £500 and 255 Euros found on Edward McDonagh, 35, of Northern Close, Dublin. He pleaded guilty to facilitating the attempted breach of immigration law in July.

McDonagh was married and had children, four having health problems, but a prison sentence with a degree of deterrence was called for, Judge Rhys Rowlands said at Caernarfon crown court.

Prosecuting barrister Richard Edwards said McDonagh paid in cash for a one-way journey from Dublin to Holyhead in Anglesey for a car with five occupants, giving false names. But when quizzed by border officials in Wales he seemed to not know his passengers and McDonagh said he was giving them a lift to Britain.

“He said he brought the Albanian nationals as a favour for a friend,” Mr Edwards added.

Desmond Lennon, defending, said the born again Christian was of previous good character and a hard-working family man. “It’s a tragedy to find him before the court in these circumstances,” the lawyer declared.

Mr Lennon said he had been returning a favour to a fellow traveller while facing a combination of pressures. “There was a temptation to get some easy money. This was a venture that was never going to succeed,” the barrister said. “It was a very ill-judged decision to get himself involved in this.”

Judge Rowlands said the Albanians had been returned to Ireland. “You didn’t know any of them. Your motivation was a financial one,” the judge told McDonagh. “The integrity of the immigration system is something the courts have to maintain."

Commenting on the case, Border Force regional director Liz Versi said: “Border Force and other law enforcement partners carry out intelligence-led operations at ports and airports to detect this type of attempted abuse of the Common Travel Area. McDonagh’s conviction is evidence of the effectiveness of this approach.”

Deputy director Dave Magrath, from Immigration Enforcement CFI added: “McDonagh provided a number of explanations for the trip, one that he picked his passengers up in Dublin when he asked them for a lift, another that he brought them over on the ferry as a favour to a friend.

“Whatever his motivation, the reality of what he was engaged in is clear – an attempted abuse of the Common Travel Area and an attempted abuse of the UK’s immigration rules.

“I hope this case sends a clear message that anyone involved with this kind of criminality will be caught and brought before the courts.”