Sweating migrants were discovered stowed in the cupboard of a recruitment consultant’s camper van - who exclaimed "how did they get in there?"

The trio emerged when Border Force officers searched Abdul Abbas’ vehicle at Dover, prompting him to deny people smuggling.

But Abbas confessed in police interview that someone known to him promised to stump up £20,000 for the deed, which he accepted after spinning into £20,000 debt.

The 42-year-old’s “well organised” ploy came unstuck at Dover’s Eastern Dock terminal.

Initially Abbas told Border Force officers he was returning from a two-day visit in Düsseldorf after staying at his cousin's home.

But when one official became suspicious and checked the vehicle he noticed the bathroom was unusually warm.

He opened a damaged cupboard and three Vietnamese migrants emerged, a court heard.

"The circumvention of border controls undermines the nation's security as it means we lose ability to monitor and control who is entering the country..." — Judge Simon James

Prosecutor Richard Walsh said: “They were covered in sweat, he noted.

“(In police interview) he stated his friend said to him if he would bring three people to the UK he would get £20,000, but Abbas said he’d be more likely to get £6,000.

“The person told him where to meet them and sent their pictures to his phone, so he knew who they were.”

Mitigating, his barrister said her client was the family breadwinner for three children, an ill wife and he "spiralled into debt."

She argued custody would break-up Abba's family and pleaded to the judge to suspend a prison sentence and minimise harm.

But Judge Simon James told Abbas he should have considered the matter before turning to people smuggling.

"Offending of this sort is serious for a whole variety of reasons.

"The circumvention of border controls undermines the nation's security as it means we lose ability to monitor and control who is entering the country," he said.

"Trafficking is also an exploitative offence, it preys on the vulnerable and desperate.

"The three people were unknown to you, as a consequence you had no way of knowing what their intentions were had you been successful gaining entry into the country for them.

"Illegal immigration is also prevalent and a matter of genuine public concern.

"It is often the fact that offenders' families who suffer the most and it should have been considered before you became involved of offending of this severity."

Canterbury Crown Court heard the Home Office has been notified of the crime.

Abbas, of Hazelwood Drive, Leeds, was jailed for 18 months for facilitating the commission of a breach of UK immigration law by a non-EU person on June 5.

Stephen Blackwell, Criminal and Financial Investigations assistant director said: “Abbas got involved in people smuggling in the hope of turning a quick profit. It was a reckless gamble. It is thanks to the vigilance of Border Force officers that his crime was uncovered and the case passed to CFI.

“My investigators were then able to establish the planning and pre-meditation behind this offence. We will always investigate where there is evidence of immigration crime and will not hesitate to bring perpetrators before the courts.”

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