John Lockwood from Trimley has told Ipswich Crown Court he had no idea about a plan to smuggle the illegal immigrant into the UK.

Lockwood, 32, is accused of being part of a gang which tried to smuggle an illegal immigrant into the UK in a purpose-built hidden compartment in the back of a van.

Speaking at his trial at Ipswich Crown court, Lockwood of Mill Close, Trimley St Martin, said he had travelled to France to pick up alcohol for a bar in Ipswich but didn't know what others he was with were up to.

Lockwood told the court he had seen Richard Halls, from Melton, who he had travelled to Calais with, texting on his phone while they were there but hadn't seen him with any strangers nor had he seen anyone put illegal immigrants into the back of a van .

Prosecutor Wayne Cleaver alleged Lockwood arranged to meet Elliott Thompson in a hotel in Calais and had travelled back to Dover in a separate vehicle on the same ferry as the van with the illegal immigrant hidden inside.

The court heard that Richard Halls, 39, of St Andrews Place, Melton, Elliott Thompson of Ipswich Road, Stowmarket, and three other men had admitted the charge at earlier hearings.

Lockwood denied assisting in the unlawful immigration of an Albanian national between October 14 and 17, 2019, by arranging with others for him to hide in the back of a van on a P&O ferry at Dover.

Lockwood told police he wasn't part of the smuggling plan and said that when he travelled to France he didn't know what the other people he was with were up to.

"We say he was a knowing and willing participant in a joint enterprise to evade immigration controls," said Mr Cleaver.

The trial continues.