Care home agency boss jailed for hiring illegal migrants

A director of a care home agency based in East Sussex who repeatedly employed immigrants with no right to work in the UK has been jailed today. 

Between 2017 and 2018, Benoy Thomas, 50, recruited Indian nationals to work as care assistants through Bexhill-on-Sea based A Class Care Recruitment Ltd, despite being aware of their illegal status. 

He was prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) following an investigation by Immigration Enforcement, an agency of the Home Office. 

At his trial at Lewes Crown Court in July, Thomas, of East Sussex, was found guilty of assisting the unlawful immigration of 13 individuals. Today he was sentenced to a total of two-and-a-half years in prison and disqualified from being a company director for eight years.

Thomas arrived legally in the UK in 2007 and became a British citizen in 2012.

The court heard how Thomas attempted to conceal employment documentation from immigration officers in a garage before his arrest.

Prosecutors presented extensive evidence to the jury, including timesheets, invoices, text messages, bank statements, handwritten office notes and diary entries, which showed that Thomas deliberately organised work for people he knew were in the UK illegally and had no right to work. 

Katie Samways, Specialist Prosecutor for CPS South East, said: 

"Benoy Thomas knowingly breached immigration laws by employing people who had no right to work in the UK.

"Many of those he illegally employed were working with some of the most vulnerable people without adequate training or medical expertise, putting the safety and wellbeing of those who needed care at significant risk.

"The Crown Prosecution Service will continue to prosecute those who exploit our immigration system.”