FORTY-SIX Sri Lankan immigrants were released into the south Wiltshire countryside after being cooped up in the back of a small lorry for more than 20 hours, Salisbury Crown Court was told this week.
The driver of the seven-and-a-half ton lorry, Erich Lange (48), of Cologne, Germany, is alleged to have smuggled the Tamils into Britain last December.
The Tamils, all men except for four women and two young boys, were locked in dark, squalid conditions during their journey, the court was told.
Ray Tully, prosecuting at Lange's trial at Salisbury Crown Court this week, said: "Expecting cattle to be transported in such conditions would be inhumane. To expect 46 human beings to be so transported is beyond words."
Having crossed the Channel from Northern France to Portsmouth, the Tamils were allegedly dumped out of the lorry on to the road between Fifield Bavant and Ebbesbourne Wake before police caught up with the driver on the A30.
Lange pleads not guilty to the charge of being knowingly concerned with assisting illegal entrance.
The case continues.
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