Fir Grove migrants 'fleeing violence' had fake passports and drugs

Nino Zhgenti, 37, and Nika Chanturia, 30, appeared in Chester Crown Court on Monday, May 22, to be sentenced.

The pair pleaded guilty to charges of possession of fake identity documents with intent, possession of criminal property and possession of cannabis, amphetamine, MDMA and heroin.

Prosecuting, Francis Wilmot told the court how a housing officer had been called to Fir Grove Hotel in Grappenhall on March 14 after reports of a room that smelled of cannabis.

While carrying out a search of the property, the officer picked up a jumper. Five snap bags of drugs fell out onto the floor.

At this point, police were informed and headed to the room to carry out a search.

The court heard during the search of the room, Zhgenti attempted to hide two passports behind her back.

These passports were Belgian, with pictures of Zhgenti and Chanturia but different names.

After the police arrived, cannabis, MDMA, and heroin were found. The amount of each substance found was said to be ‘consistent with personal use’.

In a statement given to police upon their arrest, Zhgenti claimed they had been sent the passports after a deal with smugglers in Calais, despite 'asking for their money back and for them to not send the passports'.

She also claimed they had ‘forgot to throw them away’.

She told police they had not used the passports, which was later confirmed.

Defending, Jeremy Rawson represented Zhgenti, while David Rose represented Chanturia.

The court heard how the two were a couple, and had allegedly fled their native Georgia from Zhgenti’s criminal ex-husband.

After the two split and Zhgenti began dating Chanturia, her ex-husband assaulted him, putting him in hospital for three months and leaving scars on him that remain to this day, the court was told.

Upon his imminent release from prison, the ex-husband informed the pair he was ‘coming for them’, it was heard.

They sold their belongings and began a journey across Europe, travelling from Georgia to Vienna, before making their way to Calais in France.

Mr Rawson told the group how Zhgenti was 'an educated woman with an economics degree from a University in Georgia'.

The pair chose the UK to migrate to illegally due to their belief that the lack of an EU border would make it harder for her ex-husband to follow.

Upon arrival in Calais, Mr Rose alleged that the two went through ‘three months of hell’, saying that two different groups looked to exploit them in their desire to travel to the UK.

The first involved paying for fake passports to dupe their way in. Despite initially paying for this, Zhgenti and Chanturia decided against this method, it was claimed.

The second group were looking to smuggle them in illegally, taking their Georgian passports off them and putting them on a small boat.

The boat hit issues on the journey, with the boat being intercepted by RNLI boats. They entered the country illegally on February 8.

Upon arrival, the pair were moved to the Grappenhall hotel. They began using drugs recreationally ‘at parties’.

The couple said they told the smugglers who they paid for passports they did not want them, but they were given them at Fir Grove.

At the end of their statement, Mr Rose reiterated that the passports were never used.

Judge Simon Berkson, in sentencing, said: “In early February of this year, both defendants entered this country illegally.

They were rescued by coast guards and made applications for asylum.”

He then described how the pair were found with ‘a cocktail of drugs’, as well as the fake passports.

Due to the ‘criminality of the case’ he said: “These warrant only a term of immediate imprisonment.”

He noted that the pair had no known convictions but stated the importance of setting an example to prevent people entering the UK illegally.

“There are an increasing number of tragic cases of those entering the UK illegally. The relevance of this in 2023 is even more than when the guidance was created," he added.

“Many are duped out of money in an effort to enter the UK. This sort of behaviour needs to be stopped.”

The pair were both sentenced to 12 months immediate imprisonment.

Judge Berkson also said that, while the court does not decide on deportation, he did recommend they were deported by the Home Office after serving their full sentence.

The pair shared an embrace before being taken away to prison.