Colchester restaurant is hit with record fine for illegal working

Bosses at a Colchester restaurant have been fined £96,000 for employing illegal workers - the largest fine ever handed down by a court in the UK for such an offence.

Phing Woon Pun, Anthony Lam and Bo & Sum Ltd (of which Pun and Lam are directors) were each found guilty on 12 May at Harwich Magistrates Court of six offences of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996.

Each defendant was fined £5,000 per offence - the maximum permissible at a magistrates' court - making a total of £90,000, plus £6,000 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

The bosses were brought to court after UK Border Agency immigration officers, acting on intelligence, visited Temptations Chinese Restaurant, Balkerne Hill, Colchester on 29 November 2007.

Six illegal workers from China, Indonesia and Malaysia were arrested.

Several workers tried to escape through a hatch to the roof of the restaurant, while two were caught hiding in nearby gardens. An Essex Police helicopter helped the UK Border Agency to catch all of them.

In his summing up at the end of the five-day trial, the district judge said he was satisfied that those arrested in November 2007 were working illegally and were employees as defined by the law.

Some of the arrested workers had been wearing chef's clothing, some had attempted to escape, and one had asked to call his boss.

The judge added that he would draw an inference from the fact that the directors and company had offered no mitigation and had not given evidence.

Gail Adams, UK Border Agency regional director for the Midlands and the East of England, said: "This record fine sends out a clear message that both the UK Border Agency and the courts will not tolerate employers who hire illegal workers.

"Illegal working is unfair on honest employers who recruit staff with the right to work in the UK and who pay them a proper salary. Employers who don't play by the rules will get struck off our register, lose the right to recruit staff from outside Europe, face on the spot fines and could potentially end up in jail."

A tough new civil penalty system was introduced by the Government in February 2008 to provide a fast and effective way of tackling bosses who fail to carry out proper checks on workers from outside Europe.

A fine of up to £10,000 per worker can be imposed for every illegal worker found at a business.

If you are an employer and you are unsure of the steps you must take to avoid employing illegal workers, you can visit www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/employers or call the employers' helpline on 0300 123 4699.

Words: Clare Riley

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