Caught: Custody officer Kelly Henderson, 39, tried to smuggle her deported Albanian lover back into the UK in the boot of her Nissan Micra

A security worker at the UK's main immigration centre tried to smuggle her deported lover back into the country in the boot of her car.

Custody officer Kelly Henderson, 39, started an affair with Fatos Demirneli during his detention at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre in West London.

When the 'good looking' Albanian was deported, the besotted mother-of-one plotted to sneak him back into Britain from France.

In August last year she drove across the Channel and tried to smuggle Demirneli back into the UK hidden in the back of her Nissan Micra.

But immigration officials at the Channel Tunnel entrance at Coquelles searched the car and found the stowaway – as well as a quantity of amphetamines.

Police then raided Henderson's home in West Drayton, Middlesex and found MDMA, prosecutor Jim Harvey told Canterbury Crown Court.

Henderson, who has been sacked from the GEO Group which ran the immigration removal centre at the time, admitted people smuggling and two drugs offences.

But despite her crimes she escaped jail when a judge said what she did was 'silly but understandable'.

Speaking after she was handed a suspended sentence, Henderson said she 'deeply regrets' trying to smuggle her boyfriend into the UK but said she still loves him and hopes he will still get into the country legally to be with her.

She said: 'I'm over the moon with the sentence, I am extremely lucky.

'I'd prepared everything to go to prison, my bank accounts, direct debits, keys, and I'd sorted out my daughter Amy living with my mum.

'I've definitely learned my lesson. I understand it's not the right way to go about it, it wasn't planned.

'I clearly didn't think it through and if I could go back of course I wouldn't have done it.

'Clearly I would be completely stuck if he had come across, where would I hide him? It couldn't work and I deeply regret my actions.

'I've had sleepless nights the past five weeks.'

Henderson added: 'It's always just been Amy and me. But then Fatos and I met while he was in the detention centre.

'He smiled at me and would chat to me and he gave me his number.

Employer: Henderson had started an affair with Fatos Demirneli during his detention at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre in West London (pictured) where she worked

'My first mistake was texting him, that alone would have lost me my job, it was my dream job and I really miss it.

'We talked for about three or four weeks and then he was removed to France. He said he would come back to the UK for me.

'I went to see him for the day and I just didn't want to say goodbye so I put him in my boot.

'My job is just where I met him, it did not help me with any knowledge about how to smuggle someone into the country.

'Clearly if it did I would not have put him in the boot of my car.'

Judge Nigel Van Der Bijl said the normal sentence for Henderson's offence was 'almost always' an immediate jail term but gave her a suspended sentence.

Clearly I would be completely stuck if he had come across, where would I hide him? It couldn't work and I deeply regret my actions Kelly Henderson

He told her: 'You were very silly and now you realise that.

'One can understand the kind of emotions which were swirling around in your mind at the prospect of parting from your boyfriend.

'This was a very silly but understandable act.'

Paul Hogben, defending, said Henderson, who has a 14-year-old daughter, 'allowed her emotions to run away with her'.

The barrister handed the judge a letter written by Henderson's daughter saying she loved her mother 'above everything else'.

He said: 'This is a sad case of a 39-year-old mother with a 14-year-old daughter. She was somewhat vulnerable.

'She allowed her emotions to run away with her and was tempted to bring what was in effect her lover into this country.

'She has not injured anyone. She has not stolen from anyone but has committed an offence which has put her in the gravest danger of custody.'

He added: 'She is a kind and decent person, who while working as a custody officer formed a friendship with Mr Demirneli

'To put that in context, this is a lady who had been fending for herself and her daughter for 14 years.'

He said Henderson had a 'short-lived' relationship with the father of her child when she was 20 to 22.

She claimed the father gave her an ultimatum that if she kept the child their relationship was finished.

In August last year Henderson (pictured centre) drove across the Channel and tried to smuggle Demirneli back into the UK hidden in the back of her Nissan Micra. She admitted people smuggling but escaped jail

Mr Hogben said: 'So she left and he did not figure in her or her daughter's life for two years.

'After a reconciliation which was marked by violence, she has not, from that point, apart from another short-lived relationship, had a man in her life until she met Mr Demirneli.

'He was a very nice man. She said he was very good looking and she was flattered by the fact he had taken an interest in her.

'She succumbed even though she knew there was a conflict with her employment. She was not naive but she gave way to the emotions which had grown between them.'

Mr Hogben said Mr Demirneli was sent back to France – but the affair carried on.

He said: 'Although she did not have a plan to bring her lover back to the UK illegally, she did want the relationship to continue in the hope he could come back legally one day.'

Henderson went to France to spend time with her lover and when the time came to part 'she just couldn't and a mad idea came into her head to secrete him in her car'.

The court heard that Demirneli has since been removed from the UK.

The judge said the normal sentence for the offence was 'almost always' an immediate jail term but gave Henderson a suspended sentence. The GEO Group, which ran the immigration removal centre, sacked her

Henderson said Demirneli, 39, has a six-year-old son in Albania.

He has since returned to the country which he tried to escape when his parents died and his brother was shot by violent gangs.

While hiding in the UK Demirneli had a cash-in-hand job in security looking after empty flats overnight.

He later handed himself into the Home Office.

After he was discovered in the back of Henderson's car he was taken back to Albania.

Henderson added: 'He was taken back to France and from there back to Albania.

'I still love him and we do communicate but we won't be together properly until he's come over here.

'He's applying for visas including the one to be with a partner. Amy hasn't met him but she's been very supportive.

'He admits it was a stupid idea and at the moment he's living with his uncle while he looks for work.'

Henderson was given an 18-month jail sentence suspended for two years and ordered to do 250 hours of unpaid work for the community.