Alton immigrant laundry director jailed

Mr Wu was a director at the laundry where the immigrants were kept

A Berkshire man who hired 23 illegal immigrants at a laundry in Hampshire has been jailed for a year for assisting unlawful immigration.

Qing Wu, 42, of Sandhurst, employed the workers at Universal Chinese Laundry in Alton.

They lived in a cramped block at the laundry where he was a director, Winchester Crown Court heard.

Qing Wu was found guilty on 17 May on 23 counts and was sentenced on Friday to 12 months in prison.

Locked in

His co-defendant, laundry manager Man Kung Wong, 45, of Portsmouth, was cleared of the charges at the earlier hearing.

During the trial the court heard that the workers lived in the company's industrial unit alongside the laundry.

The jury was told they lived in cramped and filthy accommodation, hidden from view. There was no fresh air and the windows were blacked out.

The court was told the immigrants were locked in the building when visitors came or when they were not working.