SHAME SHAME


TAXI GANG JAILED AFTER SMUGGLING HUNDREDS OF MIGRANTS FROM UK TO FRANCE


A group of cabbies who helped a criminal gang smuggle hundreds of migrants out of the UK in the back of lorries has been sentenced. The operation was led by 54-year- old Madjid Belabes, an Uber Eats driver who pocketed nearly £290,000 by


charging people


£1,200 each to be transported to mainland Europe. Between late 2022 and 2023, Belabes organised 26 trips, at one point leading to the discovery of 58 people hidden in a single vehicle by French officials. The syndicate specifically recruited cabbies because their presence on the road would not look suspicious to police if they were stopped with multiple passengers. These drivers would pick up migrants in London and ferry them to secluded lay-bys in Kent,


where they were loaded into HGVs. While Belabes was jailed for 10 years 9 months in November, his associates Samir Zerguine and Mohamed Issaoun received prison terms of two years and 23 months respectively at Kingston Crown Court on March 13. Three other men in the plot: received sus- pended sentences. NCA investigators used phone records and CCTV to dismantle the


network, noting that the gang treated human beings like “commodities.” NCA officer John Turner highlighted the callous nature of the crime, stating: “Belabes and these taxi drivers didn’t care about the potentially fatal dangers facing migrants hidden in lorry trailers. Their only concern was making money.” Prosecutors emphasised that the plot was driven by “pure greed” and represented a serious breach of border security. Andrew Hudson of the CPS warned that while this specific case did not end in tragedy, “smuggling people across borders in lorries is highly dangerous.” Authorities have


pledged to


remain relentless in dismantling similar organised crime rings that put lives at risk for profit.


CARDIFF CABBIE BANNED AFTER COLLISION LEAVES PEDESTRIAN WITH LIFE CHANGING INJURIES


A Cardiff cabbie has been handed a driving ban and a community order after ploughing into a pedestrian and running over his leg during a botched turn. Khalid Gadalseed, 50, was behind the wheel of a Mercedes Vito in September 2023, when he struck Ioan Williams in Cardiff city centre. The impact knocked Mr. Williams to the ground before the vehicle drove over him, leaving him with a broken leg that required surgery to install plates and screws. The court heard a harrowing account of the aftermath from Mr. Williams, who spent nine days in


60


the hospital and was forced to move into his mother’s home. “The impact caused a severe injury to my left leg and significant damage,” Mr. Williams stated. “There was a possibility I might never walk again. Hearing that was extremely distressing.” The victim described a gruelling recovery involving three months in a wheelchair, constant pain, and the eventual breakdown of his relationship. “I have lost my independence, physical ability and been put under emotional and financial strain,” he added. Defending Gadalseed, who has no


previous convictions, barrister Matthew Comer argued that the defendant was a sole carer for his children and deeply sorry for the incident, describing it as “really a horrible accident.” However, Recorder Angharad Price rejected that characterisation dur- ing sentencing, telling Gadalseed: “This wasn’t an accident. Your lapse of concentration led to serious injuries which have had a profound effect on your victim.” Gadalseed was sentenced to a six- month community order with a curfew and was disqualified from driving for 12 months.


APRIL 2026 PHTM


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