‘Channel migrant smuggler’ put up in four star hotel costing £15k as tourists fume: ‘Should be kept in a secure place!’
A suspected migrant smuggler is understood to be staying in a four-star hotel which costs £15,000 as tourists complain that he should be put in a “secure” place.
Iraqi Rebin Sharif, 25, has been put up at the hotel while on bail facing extradition to France.
However, sources told The Sun that the Government was not paying for his bill – leaving people wondering how he could afford the stay.
Tourists were left fuming after finding out they were sharing the space with a man suspected of human trafficking.
James Goldfinch, of Exeter, Devon, said: “I’ve been staying here with my wife with no idea this is going on. Knowing he was so close makes my skin crawl. He should be kept in a secure place — not mingling with retirees and families with children on holiday.”
Sharif, who has to wear an electronic tag, has been staying in the £180-per-night Kent hotel since his last court appearance and could remain there until his next hearing at the end of June.
The hotel offers comfortable rooms and an on-site gym. Sharif also has access to a restaurant grill with steak and a £30-a-head gin and champagne cream tea menu.
He faces trial for recruiting migrants for small boat journeys across the Channel along with money-laundering and organised crime offences.
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It follows his arrest by NCA officers in February in Kent after French prosecutors issued a warrant.
Sharif claims he has lived in the UK for around a decade.
Court documents show he handed an asylum card to police when he was detained.
He was granted bail at Westminster magistrates court on March 5, after paying a £3,000 surety.
Speaking to a Sun reporter, the 25-year-old said: “There’s been a big mistake. I’ve been here for ten years and never had a problem. I am innocent.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “It is long-standing Home Office policy that we do not comment on individual cases, and especially not on live extradition proceedings.”
It comes as there has been growing controversy over the housing of migrants in hotels.
The Labour Government pledged to “end asylum hotels”, however, the number of migrants living in hotels at the expense of taxpayers has risen by 8,500 under their leadership.