Albanian National’s Prison Sentence for Aiding People Smugglers Reduced on Appeal

An Albanian national, Ujeza Kurmekaj, residing in Banbury, Oxfordshire, who was imprisoned after confessing to aiding cross-Channel people smugglers, has seen her sentence reduced following a successful appeal. She had pleaded guilty last year to facilitating illegal immigration and received a seven-and-a-half-year jail term. Officials from the National Crime Agency (NCA) apprehended her during a raid on her residence in October 2022. This operation was notably attended by Suella Braverman, who was then the home secretary, and Graeme Biggar, the head of the NCA. The Court of Appeal judges decreased her sentence to six years, having determined that a judge had proceeded with her imprisonment without ordering reports concerning Kurmekaj’s personal circumstances. The court was informed that Kurmekaj herself had been trafficked on a small boat from Albania and was a victim of modern slavery, having fled an abusive marriage in her native country. However, Mr Justice Bryan stated that by the time of her arrest, she possessed a “high degree of autonomy” and “complete freedom of movement” while assisting the people smugglers. He noted that Judge Michael Gledhill KC had sentenced Kurmekaj to prison at Oxford Crown Court in November 2023 without the benefit of pre-sentence or psychological reports. The appeal judges concluded that an initial 10-year sentence, which Judge Gledhill had subsequently reduced by a quarter to acknowledge Kurmekaj’s guilty plea, was excessive. Kurmekaj, who participated in the Court of Appeal proceedings via videolink from HMP Eastwood Park in Gloucestershire, had previously contested a deportation order issued after her sentencing, but this appeal was unsuccessful. After her arrest, investigators discovered that she had used her mobile phone to send instructions to contacts in France, specifying individuals they were to collect. Subsequent to her imprisonment, the NCA stated that she played a “major role as a broker, linking migrants with people smugglers who could transport them on dangerous journeys across the Channel”.