Fugitive people smuggler, 55, who spent 22 YEARS on the run in Hong Kong living a ‘law-abiding and worthwhile’ life is finally jailed – but will be free within weeks

• Alan Lee, 55, fled the UK to Hong Kong in April 2000 while awaiting sentencing
• He had helped to bring a Malaysian national into the country on a fake passport
• While In Hong Kong he worked in the health service and later as a bus driver 
• But he came back in December last year due to poor health and a work accident
• He was jailed for 13 months this week for his offences, but will be out in weeks 

A fugitive people smuggler who spent 22 years on the run in Hong Kong has finally been jailed – but is set to be free again in weeks.

Alan Lee fled the UK in April 2000 while he was on bail awaiting sentencing for helping to bring a Malaysian national into the country using a false passport.

While on the run Lee led what his sentencing judge described as a ‘law-abiding and worthwhile’ life, holding down jobs in the health service in Hong Kong and later working as a bus driver.

But a work accident, poor health and separation from his family led to him returning in December last year – and straight into the custody of police at Heathrow Airport.

The 55-year-old appeared at Maidstone Crown Court, Kent on Tuesday and was jailed for 13 months, having pleaded guilty to facilitating illegal entry and failing to surrender.

Alan Lee fled to Hong Kong (pictured, stock image) where he worked in the health service and as a bus driver for 22 years

But due to time already served on remand he is expected to be released in about 10 weeks.

Representing himself, Lee told Judge Philip St. John-Stevens at a previous hearing last month: ‘All I want is to get this matter sorted as quickly as possible.

‘I ran away from bail in 2000 back to Hong Kong. I really missed my son. I was working as a bus driver in Hong Kong and had an accident and hurt my neck.

‘It never got better and I decided to come back to England. I wanted to see my son more.

‘When I landed at Heathrow on December 29 there was a warrant and two policemen were waiting for me.

Judge Philip St. John-Stevens said Lee had lived a ‘law-abiding and worthwhile’ life while being a fugitive in Hong Kong (pictured – stock image)

‘I understand I did something silly and serious a long time ago and I deserve punishment for it.’

Referring to his time on remand at nearby Elmley Prison since his arrest, he added: ‘I have tried to keep well myself and away from all the hassles and got a job in the kitchen cooking for everyone else.

‘I’m happy to serve the sentence I get and just get on with my normal life as soon as possible.’

Prosecutor Honor Fitzgerald told the court Lee was driving a Vauxhall Cavalier when he was stopped by immigration officers at the Eurotunnel UK control zone in Coquelles, France, on June 7, 1999.

Two British passports were handed over but the one for his front seat passenger proved to be false.

Lee, who was living in Rainham, Essex, at the time, said he had been asked by another man to drive to Belgium to collect the Malaysian migrant.

He later pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court on April 10, 2000 and was released on bail until sentence.

However, he did not attend the hearing on May 8 that year and the warrant for his arrest was issued.

The 55-year-old was jailed for 13 months at Maidstone Crown Court on Tuesday, 22 years after he was supposed to be sentenced at the same court

Describing Lee as ‘articulate and intelligent’, Judge St. John-Stevens told Lee that although a prison sentence was inevitable, his voluntary return to the UK knowing he would be arrested was ‘to his credit’.

The court heard Lee’s co-defendant – the man who leant his passport to the smuggling bid – did attend the sentencing hearing in May 2000 and was locked up for 12 months.

The maximum sentence for facilitating illegal entry at that time was seven years imprisonment. 

But people-smugglers now face life behind bars following the recent introduction of the Nationality and Borders Act.

Source: Read Full Article