Three get suspended jail terms over failed WA people smuggling plot
Hong Shuyan, Zhang Zhongfang and Sun Shuai each got a three-year suspended sentence and good behaviour orders.
A mother and daughter planned to pick up their partners and take them to Sydney. The men were among 15 people smuggled in on an Indonesian fishing boat.
The women paid Sun Shuai, 29, to drive a hired van thousands of kilometres to the landing site. The court heard all three panicked when they learned several arrivals had been detained by border officers.
All three left Broome without meeting or collecting the men. One WeChat message read: "We're screwed."
Judge Mark Williams called the plan unsophisticated, with a great risk of failure. Judge Williams said failing did not make the offending any less serious.
Each received a three-year suspended jail sentence and was ordered to be of good behaviour.
- 15 people on an Indonesian fishing boat
- Smuggled in
- Kimberley coast, Western Australia
- Landing area
- April 2024
- Plot date
Why it mattersFailing to succeed does not make smuggling less serious in court, even when the plan is unsophisticated.
AustraliaUnder Australia's strict sea border policy, anyone arriving by boat without a valid visa is permanently barred from settling here.
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