A former soldier and father-of-four caught trying to sneak an Afghan girl from Calais to Britain has personally returned the child to her refugee camp after being cleared of smuggling charges. The court in France yesterday cleared Rob Lawrie of the most serious charge after he appeared before a judge and pleaded with the country to show 'compassion' for his actions.
Mr Lawrie, 49, admitted illegally trying to get Bahar Ahmadi, 4, into the UK hidden in his van after bonding with the child
while volunteering in 'The Jungle' in Calais. When the verdict was announced cheers erupted in the courtroom from the scores of migrant helpers and others present to support him.
Hours later, he revealed he had been given permission to personally return the girl to the refugee camp after she and her father attended court to support him. Outside the court house, he told waiting media: 'The French justice system sent out a message today. When compassion is in the heart, compassion will win.'
In a victory for the aid worker, Mr Lawrie avoided jail and a smuggling charge but was found guilty of 'endangerment' of the child's life and slapped with a suspended fine. Just before the hearing, he had appeared with the child in his arms at a news conference, pleading for understanding of what he acknowledged was 'an irrational' decision.
In a packed hearing at the Tribunal Grande Instance in Boulogne yesterday, Mr Lawrie, who suffers from bipolar disorder and Tourette's Syndrome, told how his business had failed, his marriage had broken down and he had tried to kill himself since his arrest. Accused of aiding and abetting illegal immigration, he was facing charges that carried a maximum prison term of five years and a 30,000-euro fine.
'Considering three hours ago I was expecting to go to jail, and now I've broken the highway code, I'm very ecstatic.'I'd like to think we've shown the human side of the child suffering in these camps.' Mr Lawrie, from Leeds, was stopped in Calais as he returned home in October after having spent time volunteering at the refugee camp known as 'The Jungle'.
The former Army physical training instructor said he was helping build shelters in the camp when he got to know Bru, and her father asked him to help get her to close family members living legally in Leeds. 'I had told her father "no" many times. But half past 10 one rainy night, when she fell asleep on my knee as I was leaving for the ferry, I just couldn't leave her there anymore. All rational thought left my head.'
Earlier, Mr Lawrie told the court he had acted stupidly and irrationally in hiding Bru in the sleeping compartment. He said he had crossed between France and the UK many times previously while helping refugees and had refused her father's pleas to take her to Britain many times.
But via an interpreter he told the judge: 'Each time I saw the little girl and her father in the work that I was doing. That night I just could not leave her there any more. It was wrong. It was the most stupid conceived plan.' He was caught when
British sniffer dogs found two Eritrean men who, unbeknownst to him, had also stowed in the back of his van.
French police arrested him over the stowaways and it was only when he was handcuffed in custody that he had to tell the authorities to go back to the van and look for Bru.Mr Lawrie rejected the idea that he was trafficking for money, telling the judge: 'Her father is a farmer from Afghanistan. He doesn't have any money whatsoever.
'I have not only raised many thousands of pounds - I have put thousands of my own money into this. There is no way I would ever do this for money.'She is four years old with a family who live near me and I had bonded with them. She was sleeping in a tent and she is a very clever girl.' He added that Bru had been 'warm and safe' where she was hidden.
He said he had started raising money and travelling to the Jungle with aid after seeing the images of three-year-old Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi, who drowned in the Mediterranean in September.Earlier this week he explained how French police appeared to believe his story when they took Bru into the detention centre and she ran over to give him a cuddle.
The former Royal Corps of Transport soldier this week described his actions in October as a 'moment of madness', but hoped the court would see he 'just tried to help a little girl'. Asked what his advice would be to others thinking of copying what he did, he added: 'Don't do it. On a personal level it will ruin your life.' Fellow refugee volunteer Jim Innes, who got to known Mr Lawrie through Facebook, started a UK petition on his behalf which gained more than 52,000 signatures asking the Government to intercede and was delivered to the Foreign Office last week.
A second petition open to people outside the
UK was signed by around 116,000 people, Mr Innes added. An estimated 4,000 people live in the Calais 'jungle' and some 3,000 in another nearby camp, hoping to reach Britain, where better job opportunities and the more familiar English language are big lures. Most attempt the crossing by trying to board trains or trucks.
Lawrie's lawyer previously said she would try to get him cleared of all charges, basing her case on a part of French law that protects from punishment those who help migrants in danger without being paid in return.As many European governments tighten their migration policies, a growing number of individuals choose to go out and help, sometimes illegally, according to researcher Francois Gemenne, a specialist on immigration.
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