Charles Frammezelle

This is a man I can only feel instant sympathy and admiration for, and not because of his large beret and grand moustache.

Charles Frammezelle, aka 'Moustache', is a 50-year-old unemployed Frenchman wearing a large Basque beret and sporting a good sized moustache.

Moustache takes care of refugees, voluntary. There were times when he brought up to 30 people into his small council flat in Calais (France).

The infamous Sangatte Red Cross centre near Calais, in northern France, housed around 67,000 migrants between 1999 and 2002.

It shut down after a deal between France and the UK government, which saw it as a haven for people-smugglers and a base for illegal entry into the UK.

Arrested, Moustache has been let off without sentence by a French court. The court did find them guilty of helping illegal immigrants in an organised group and of allowing their own names to be used to transfer funds on somebody else's behalf.

Frammezelle told French radio: "I was hosting refugees. Most of the time they were minors.

"I couldn't stand knowing they were living outside without shelter when it was pouring with rain, when it was very cold in the winter."

After the hearing, they vowed to continue their activities in order to pressure local authorities to do more.

A group of around 50 protesters demonstrated in front of the court, carrying banners which said: "Solidarity is not a crime."