Late on Boxing day evening, Mahmood, a 38-year-old Iranian migrant living in a tent in Calais, received a text. It was on.

As soon as £3,000 was put 'on hold' with the smugglers, Mahmood would be given a pickup point, from where he would be taken to a boat. Destination, Britain.

His brother back in Iran moved the money, but he only pays if Mahmood arrives in the UK.

Shortly afterwards Mahmood’s phone buzzed again. He studied a map and started walking.

Accompanied by four friends, he found a man waiting in a car, and jumped in.

Forty minutes later, almost certainly to the west of Calais, the group was deposited on a beach and told to get into a small dinghy by a smuggling gang member who they believe was from Afghanistan.