A pilot and career criminal from St Albans has been jailed for seven years following a plot to fly four illegal immigrants from Albania into the UK.

Richard Styles, 53, joked "I normally get arrested for drugs, so it's a bit strange" when arrested at Deenethorpe Airfield near Corby, Northamptonshire, in March 2022.

He had just flown his twin-engine plane to the airfield from Belgium, carrying three men and a woman who were all attempting to evade immigration checks.

National Crime Agency investigators found that Styles had worked with Silvano Turchet, 68, a former pilot, to rent a six-seater Piper Seneca airplane for £1,500 from an airfield in Lincolnshire.

Styles flew it to Deenethorpe, where Turchet paid for it to be stored before it was flown to Belgium on March 23.

Investigators believe the men were in contact with an Albanian known as ‘Tim K’ who arranged for Styles’ passengers to meet him in Belgium.

When the plane returned to the UK the next day, an NCA surveillance team was waiting.

The Albanian people were then detained by Northants police officers while they were in a taxi driven by a third man, Vijayakumar Sivakumar. They were later handed to immigration authorities.

READ MORE: Harpenden council candidate made 'extremely offensive' comments about MP

Sivakumar, 43, was also arrested, and phone records showed he had been in contact with 'Tim K' before the flight.

Styles has previous convictions for using a plane to smuggle ecstasy tablets out of Belgium in 2003, and for dropping cannabis into Jersey in the same year while on the run from the Belgian authorities.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2006, where he is believed to have met Turchet.

Styles and Turchet were both arrested by the Dutch authorities in 2017 in connection with another people smuggling enterprise. Styles would later be convicted in his absence – he was already in custody in the UK by the time the case came to trial.

Following their recent plot, Styles, Turchet and Sivakumar were charged with facilitating a breach of immigration law.

Styles admitted the charge at a hearing on August 8, 2022 and Turchet pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial, while Sivakumar was found guilty by a jury after a five-day trial at Leicester Crown Court in February 2023.

On April 28 at the same court, a judge sentenced Styles to seven years in prison, Turchet to seven-and-a-half years, and Sivakumar to four-and-a-half years.

Jacque Beer, regional head of investigations at the NCA, said: “Styles was a career criminal who previously used his piloting skills to move consignments of drugs around Europe.

"On this occasion he was offering a luxury end to end service, bringing people into the UK using a private plane.

“His comments to my officers show that he considered getting arrested nothing more than an occupational hazard.

“People smugglers use a range of methods to try and breach UK border controls, and we are determined to do all we can to stop them. Tackling organised immigration crime is a priority for the NCA.

“While this type of crime is rare, we would appeal to the aviation and local community to help us prevent it.

"Whether you work in the aviation industry, are a keen pilot, or live locally, you should report any unusual or suspicious activity at a UK airfield or airport immediately.”