Lawyer jailed for human trafficking

The twelve-day trial was the first case of trafficking of illegal immigrants to come before the Circuit Criminal Court. The crime carries a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment.

Ilori had pleaded not guilty to fourteen charges at the start of his trial but Judge Nolan directed the jury to return not guilty verdicts on two charges relating to two Mauritian children who travelled with the twelve adults to Dublin Airport.

The jury returned unanimous verdicts on seven charges and majority verdicts on five after deliberating for almost seven hours and staying overnight in a hotel.

Judge Nolan said that the legislation surrounding this case covered a multitude of different offences, including cramming immigrants into containers, resulting in death of some people and bringing women, girls and men into this country for prostitution.

He said taking all this into account, Ilori’s crime wasn’t at the highest end of the scale but added that "it was undoubtedly the case" that he brought twelve Mauritian nationals into the country knowing they were illegal.

Judge Nolan said he accepted that there was a scheme in place and said that although there were others involved, Ilori was an actor in it and made financial gains through it.

He said that these Mauritian nationals suffered because they paid out quite a bit of money and left their native country believing they had work available here.

Judge Nolan refused an application from defence counsel Ms Aileen Donnelly SC to suspend any portion of the prison term and refused leave to appeal conviction and sentence. He granted legal aid in the case of an appeal.

Superintendent John O’Driscoll of the Garda National Immigration Bureau told Mr Alex Owens SC, prosecuting, that Ilori arrived in Ireland in 1998 and sought asylum but he withdrew this application after marrying an Irish woman. He was granted full citizenship in 2002.

He had a number of road traffic convictions for which he received fines and was disqualified from driving for 12 months.

Ms Donnelly (with Mr Kerida Naidoo BL), asked Judge Nolan to take into account that this was not a case were the immigrants were physically harmed as was the case in Rosslare Harbour were eight people died after they were smuggled in to Ireland in a crammed truck.

She also said that there was no question of the people in Ilori’s case being sexually exploited.

She said Ilori still maintained his innocence which meant that there "were certain matters" she couldn’t put before the court. She asked that Ilori wouldn’t be punished for this because she said he had a right to go to trial.

She said Ilori was a father of four very young children under the age of seven. He qualified as a lawyer in Nigeria but didn’t practice there for very long because he had to leave "because of the situation".

He came to Ireland and sought asylum but withdrew that "as is often this case after he fell in love and married an Irish woman".

Ms Donnelly said that Ilori had a "valid occupation" as an immigration consultant here. He lost his business, The Equity Office, based in Parnell Street, in Dublin because of the publicity in the aftermath of the case.

Mr Veeraj Sunyasi gave evidence at the trial that he applied to a company in Mauritius for a work permit for Ireland after reading an advertisement which said: "Would you like to work in Ireland and earn euro?"

He said he paid a total of 105,000 Mauritian rupee, approximately €3,500, to Micro Data Info (MDI) after meeting with the company’s managing director, Kevin Chuttur, in April 2004.

He told Mr Patrick McGrath BL (with Mr Owens), that he later went to a meeting in MDI where he and 20 other Mauritian nationals met with Ilori who was described as an immigration consultant from Ireland.

He said Ilori told them that he didn’t have the work permits arranged and that they would have to come to Ireland first where they would be approved in a week.

Mr Sunyasi said that Ilori told the group he had already found jobs for them but they would have to do a trial in their new position before a work permit was issued.

He said the group had been told that Ilori would have the documents at the meeting ready for them to work legally in Ireland.

Mr Sunyasi said this meeting took place a couple of days before he travelled to Ireland with 11 other fellow nationals and two children and Ilori.

When the group arrived in Paris on their way to Dublin Airport, he got worried that they had no documentation to show immigration. He voiced this concern to Ilori who told him not to worry because he would help them out.

Mr Sunyasi said that when some of the group were trying to fill out the landing card on the plane they asked Ilori what they should say was the purpose of their visit to Ireland and he told them to tick the box for tourism.

He agreed with Mr McGrath that they weren’t allowed into Ireland and the group flew back to Paris the next day before returning home to Mauritius.

Mr Sunyasi didn’t accept that Ilori never suggested that a work permit would be available within a week of their arrival in Dublin and that he never mentioned anything about doing a trial in the new position.

"I was not coming to Ireland looking for a job. We were coming here to do a trial and then get a work permit and start work," he told the jury. "We did what he said because he was a professional and we trusted him."

Detective Garda John McCormack from the Garda National Immigration Bureau said Ilori had been stopped during a routine examination by Custom and Excise officers at Dublin Airport and he arrested him after telling him he suspected he was involved in organising the arrival of the Mauritian nationals into Dublin Airport.

Ilori had a number of documents on him including nine receipts that had been issued by Micro Data Information Academy for Excellence in Mauritius, for what was described as "down payments for work visa application in Ireland". The receipts were in the name of four of the Mauritian nationals who had been stopped by C & E officers after getting off a flight from Paris and was for a total sum of 448,400 rubies.

Det Gda McCormack said Ilori told gardai he was not involved in illegally trafficking anyone and had simply given the group advice on how to come into the country legally and the "law of the land" associated with it.

Ilori denied ever receiving any money from the Mauritian nationals but said that he was to be paid a commission of €2,000 once they all secured jobs in Ireland. He said if they all didn’t find employment he would receive a percentage of the €2,000.

Detective Garda Michelle O’Connor said she refused 14 Mauritian, including a six-year-old and a nine-year-old child, entry into the State because she didn’t believe they were coming to Ireland for a holiday as they claimed.

She said she asked each of the group to present their passport, landing card and return tickets to Mauritius. All 14 landing cards indicated that the duration of the person’s stay was four weeks and the purpose of their visit was tourism. They all also had open return tickets to Maritus that were valid up to the end of February 2005.

Det Gda O’Connor said she was also handed a document from Micro Data Information Academy for Excellence which stated that it was a letter of recommendation for a named 12 candidates who were on a "fact finding mission to Ireland in relation to commerce, information technology and hospitality".

It said that provision had been made for their accommodation and "any incidental costs" for their stay in Ireland. The letter also stated that the signatory had no hesitation in recommending the candidates for work permits. None of them had a work permit.

"I basically thought they were telling lies," Detective Garda O’Connor said.