Scot jailed in France over bid to smuggle migrants on boat to UK

A Scottish man has been jailed in France over an attempt to smuggle migrants on a boat into the UK.

John Frizell, from Glasgow, was arrested in Normandy in April when police found five migrants on his boat, including a three-year-old girl.

Six other people were identified close to the port and believed to be heading to the boat, having paid €1,000 (£867) each for the crossing, prosecutors said.

The court in Rouen heard Frizell and another man, Andrew Walsh, had travelled to France with the intention of taking people across the Channel.

Frizell, 46, was sentenced to two-and-a-half-years on Wednesday.

Walsh, was given a 15-month suspended sentence.

The court heard the pair were arrested on the night of April 8-9 in Saint-Valéry-en-Caux in northwest France.

They had arrived from the UK on an 8m (26ft) sailboat and were suspected of planning to return with about 10 Syrian or Pakistani migrants.

Lawyers for the two accused requested their acquittal on the grounds that the boat had neither set sail nor even left the dock.

But the public prosecutor described the men as "smugglers" who had "made the journey for this purpose".

Frizell and Walsh were given permanent bans from French territory.

A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office spokesperson said: "We are in contact with the local authorities regarding this case, and our consular staff are in touch with one British national."