Men involved in conspiracy to smuggle migrants into UK jailed

Two men have been jailed for conspiring to facilitate the illegal immigration of migrants – including eight children - into the UK who were hidden in the back of a lorry.

Daniel Loughran, 34, and Eoin Nolan, 51, were found guilty in February following a trial at Maidstone Crown Court of conspiring to assist with unlawful immigration.

The defendants were prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Today (4 September 2025), Loughran and Nolan were sentenced to five-and-a-half years and four years imprisonment, respectively.  

Tarika Jayaratne, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The two defendants in this case made significant efforts to avoid and undermine the checks and controls we have on immigration at our borders. They also put the safety and wellbeing of the vulnerable children they were smuggling at risk for profit.

“The CPS is continuing to work with law enforcement partners to discourage, disrupt and dismantle this exploitative trade through prosecutions and cross-border collaboration.”

Two other defendants, Wayne Sherlock, 43, who pleaded guilty to the same offence and was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court in June 2022, and Duncan McLaughlin, who has been convicted for his part as the driver of the lorry by the Belgium authorities, were also involved in the conspiracy.

Together, this organised crime group (OCG) conspired to smuggle 10 Vietnamese migrants, eight of whom were believed to be children, hidden inside stacked tyres in the back of a lorry. These migrants were to be picked up and illegally trafficked from France, via Belgium, into the UK.

Their plan failed on 5 March 2020, when a lorry driven by McLaughlin was stopped by the Belgian authorities. During the search of the lorry’s trailer, the 10 migrants were discovered. McLaughlin was arrested and the vehicle was seized by Belgian police.

The prosecution used a range of evidence to build a strong case against the other defendants which proved their involvement in the conspiracy.

NCA Branch Commander David Cunningham said: “Nolan and Loughran’s organised crime group continued to relentlessly pursue making this crossing a success, despite it being just months after the tragic deaths of 39 migrants who had tried to make a similar journey.

“We saw in their communications that they faced issues finding a driver to smuggle the migrants but persisted anyway, despite the danger involved. They operated as a well-oiled machine and took £150,000 from these vulnerable migrants, most of whom were children, for their own pure greed.

“The group loaded old tyres to the trailer for the sole purpose of appearing to be a legitimate delivery and the migrants were told to hide within them, despite them being unstable and the potential for serious injury or worse if the journey had continued.

“The NCA will continue to tackle organised immigration crime and in our work with partners to bring criminal gangs like those Nolan and Loughran were involved in to justice.”