A former judo champion from Greenhithe and his accomplice have been jailed for a total of nine years after trying to smuggle Albanian migrants into the country.

Robert Stilwell, 33, of Stanley Close, and Mark Stribling, 35, of Hilltop Farm, Farningham, tried to transport 18 migrants on their inflatable boat but failed after the vessel broke down and they had to be rescued.

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Photo issued by the Home Office of Robert Stilwell

Stilwell, who holds a judo black belt and has previously held European and Commonwealth titles, appeared stunned by the sentence and mouthed "Tell them I love them" as he was sent down, while Stribling smirked.

The pair were meant to be paid £2,000 each to make the journey to the south of Calais and transport the migrants who had paid £6,000 each for the crossing, Maidstone Crown Court heard today (July 29).

The duo admitted breaching immigration law by illegally attempting to help the 18 stowaways - including one woman and two children - reach the UK.

The judge heard how the migrants waded into the sea before climbing on board Stilwell and Stribling's white rigid inflatable rib on the evening of May 28 this year.

However the boat had to be rescued in the English Channel after it lost power and was taking in water one-and-a-half miles from shore.

It had been drifting for almost three hours before the coastguard and the crew of HMC Valiant - a Border Force cutter ship - came to the rescue.

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Photo issued by the Home Office of Mark Stribling

A video from the search and rescue helicopter played to the court showed a migrant using a small container to try to bail out the boat, while Stribling could be seen remonstrating with the passengers on board.

When lifeboat crews arrived, the woman migrant was "showing signs of hypothermia", prosecutor Nina Ellin said.

The court heard the two men, both with criminal records, had made threats that the "the boat would be punctured" with scissors if they alerted authorities, while the woman said she had been told of threats they would be "thrown into the sea".

The prosecution explained how the woman and her husband feared for their lives.

"They believe if they had been 10 more minutes on that boat they would have died," Ms Ellin told the jury.

The judge heard the coastguard was only alerted because of phone calls the migrants made to family members.

It took four return trips to the HMC Valiant to remove all the migrants and the defendants, taking a total of an hour and a half.

Ms Ellin said rescuers overheard either Close or Stribling claim they had been fishing and had rescued the migrants, while the other was said to have shouted that the boat had run out of fuel as they were rescued.

Once the pair arrived back at Dover, they appeared in "good spirits" and joked about the strength of the tea and coffee.

In interview, Ms Ellin said Stilwell told police: "Yes, they were in the water”, but he did not want to elaborate further on this as the officers would twist everything he said.

In sentencing, Judge Jeremy Carey said: "This case shows the best and the worst of human characteristics.

"On the part of the rescue services, a real and conspicuous devotion to duty and at considerable risk to themselves.

"On your part, greed, recklessness and deceit and the desire to get easy money.

"In the event, there was a rescue and those who were rescued should be very grateful, as you should be to those who came to your aid.

"A tragedy was averted by a whisker."

Stilwell was sentenced to four years and four months in prison.

Stribling was jailed for four years and eight months.