Officers from the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) have charged a man in connection with an immigration offence. 

Robbie Hounsham, aged 54, of Ashley Road, Ryde, Isle of Wight, was charged via postal requisition yesterday (9/11) with conspiracy to facilitate the unlawful entry and/or attempted entry into the UK of non-EU citizens between the 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2020. 

The charge is in connection with an incident in which a yacht returned to East Cowes Marina in Hampshire on 19 March 2020 with 12 additional people on board who were suspected of being migrants entering the UK illegally.    

Hounsham is due to appear at Newport Magistrates’ Court on 29 November. 

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