AN AID volunteer who faced jail after attempting to smuggle a young girl from the Calais ‘Jungle’ has signed a deal with a Hollywood scriptwriter.

Filming is expected to start this year on the story of Guiseley man Rob Lawrie, who risked everything in a failed attempt to bring four-year-old Bahar Ahmadi over to England.

The former soldier walked free from a French court in January 2016 after admitting trying to sneak the little Afghan girl into Britain. But his arrest had led to the breakdown of his marriage and an attempt to take his own life.

The case prompted international interest and now his story is set to be made into a film with financial backing already offered from Dubai and the possibility of more from Canada.

Mr Lawrie said the script was in the hands of two well-known A list actors - one of whom is an Oscar winner.

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He is now planning to look into the possibility of using some of the proceeds to mount a legal challenge against the UK government, which has just announced it will stop receiving children via the so-called Dubs amendment. The campaigner, who talks about his work in schools, says he has also been approached by the BBC but can give no details about discussions which are still in their early stages.

He said a number of people had contacted him, wanting to make films or dramatisations of his story. He decided to accept an offer from award-winning scriptwriter Fawaz Al-Matrouk.

“I like Fawaz because he himself was a child refugee,” he said. “He flew over from the states and came to my house and we got on really well. His writing style is really good and really powerful. We became friends. He trusts me implicitly and I trust him implicitly.”

Mr Lawrie has signed over the options for the film and now the third and final draft is being presented at film festivals. He said filming would begin this year.

“There is a lot of money involved, but anyone who knows me will know that money will go into a foundation,” he said.

“I will pay myself a small wage and a lot will go back into what I do. I have no fantasy about being a rich man.”

He is hoping the money could enable him to mount a legal challenge against the government so that child refugees with relatives in this country will be allowed into the UK.

Mr Lawrie has recently taken aid to refugees in Greece and has just returned from Paris where he was a keynote speaker in a challenge against a legal ruling. He will be setting off for Serbia next week to help migrants living there.