A Hawke's Bay man jailed for conspiring to assist overstayers and ship jumpers to live and work illegally in New Zealand has failed in a bid to have his sentence reduced.
Former company directors Michael Porter, Miles Elliot, Darminder Singh and his father Surjit Singh, went on trial in May this year for employing illegal workers between September 2004 and December 2006 and paying them in cash.
Three days into the six-week trial, all pleaded guilty.
The former directors were jailed for three years, with Surjit Singh given nine months' home detention.
Elliot went to the Court of Appeal, which decided imprisonment was appropriate given the seriousness of the offending.
The court said a 15% discount the judge in Hastings gave for a late guilty plea was generous.
