Restaurant owners' record £96k fine for illegal workers

The £96,000 fine is the largest ever handed down by a court in the UK for such an offence.

Company Bo & Sum, which ran Temptations Chinese Restaurant in Colchester, and its directors Phing Woon Pun and Anthony Lam, were found guilty at Harwich Magistrates’ Court of six asylum and immigration offences.

Each defendant was fined £5,000 per offence, the maximum amount allowed at magistrates’ court level, plus a total of £6,000 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

UK Border Agency immigration officers raided the Balkerne Hill restaurant on November 29, 2007.

Six illegal workers from China, Indonesia and Malaysia, were arrested. Several workers tried to escape through a hatch in the roof of the restaurant, and two workers were caught hiding in nearby gardens. The police helicopter helped the UK Border Agency catch the illegal workers.

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

He stated he had taken into account some of the arrested workers were wearing chefs’ clothing, some attempted to escape, and one had asked to call his boss.

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

Prosecuting lawyer Emma Dmitriev said: “The amount of this fine reflects the seriousness of the nature of this case and highlights the pressure it has put on the public purse, for such a lengthy trial to be heard in a magistrates’ court.

“This fine gives a clear message to those who employ illegal immigrants they will be placed before the courts and prosecuted.

“It also gives a severe warning to those making arrangements to employ people from another country that they must adhere to employment law, which is a there to protect them.”

Bo & Sum, or Pun and Lam, no longer run the restaurant, which is now the Embassy Oriental Buffet.