Rob Lawrie vows to keep fighting for refugees after he is found guilty by French court of lesser offence of endangering child

Rob Lawrie was accused of illegally transporting a foreigner and stood trial in the northern town of Boulogne-sur-Mer on Thursday, four months after being arrested as he approached a ferry to the UK with a young refugee hidden in his van.

The 49-year-old was introduced to Bahar Ahmadi, nicknamed Bru, one night in October while visiting the refugee encampment known as the Jungle near the Channel crossing point. He told the court he made the “irrational and stupid decision” to smuggle her back to the UK after she fell asleep in his lap.

“She is a child. She’s four years old. She has family who live near me and I had bonded with her,” said the former serviceman, from Guiseley, Leeds. “It was a cold night. She had fallen asleep on my knee. I could not leave her there in a tent.”

Facing a maximum sentence of five years in prison if found guilty, Lawrie wept as he described how one “ill-thought-out” decision to help the young girl had cost him his health, family and business. He was ultimately cleared of the charge, and instead found guilty of the lesser allegation of endangering a child, and fined €1,000.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/14/former-soldier-court-smuggle-child-refugee