Friday Rout: Asylum seeker jailed for attempting to arrive in UK by small boat
An asylum seeker who traveled to the UK on a small boat across the English Channel following the May bank holiday weekend has been sentenced to seven months in prison.
South Sudanese Friday Rout was sentenced to a young offenders’ institution at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday after admitting trying to come to the UK without valid permission on May 26.
The 21-year-old young man also pleaded not guilty to the charge of endangering others during the sea crossing, and the allegations were accepted by the prosecutor’s office.
Sentencing him, Judge Simon James said: “There is serious and legitimate public concern about breaches of border control and this widespread crime is leading to significant profits for organized crime groups.
“I consider that the public concern about this particular method of entry into the UK means that the offense is serious enough to warrant an immediate prison sentence.”
The court heard Rout was one of 55 migrants traveling on the rigid-hulled inflatable boat and spent some time “holding his hand on the boat’s tiller”.
Prosecutor Oliver Kirk said: “It is clear that the fleet passed through a busy shipping lane and was overcrowded.
“When he was interviewed, he said that he had been in Spain for a few months, went to France, paid 500 euros to a Kurd and was put on a boat.
“He admitted to using the boat for about an hour.”
The court heard Rout, who was assisted by an Arabic translator during the hearing, had no previous convictions or immigration history in the UK.
Lawyer Georgia Morgan, defending Rout, said he was still a “very young individual” and planned to come to the UK to seek “safety and security after fleeing a war-torn country”.
He said: “The South Sudanese was living in Sudan with his family after leaving South Sudan due to the war.
“His father also remained in South Sudan, separated from his family members.”
The judge said he had been informed that Rout had applied for asylum, but added: “This extraordinary request does not provide you with a defence.”
Meanwhile, three other defendants accused of endangering others during a sea crossing appeared in the same court on Tuesday.
Jiechlat Buom, a 25-year-old Sudanese national, did not accept the charges after arriving on May 24.
The claim included operating the boat “creating a risk of death or serious injury to others on board.”
A four-day trial was planned for November 23.
Kueth Gatkuoth, a 31-year-old Sudanese national, also pleaded not guilty to the charge of endangering others during a sea crossing on May 24, and a provisional trial date was set for November 30.
Elsewhere, Romal Gulzada, a 30-year-old Afghan national accused of endangering others during a sea crossing after arriving on May 27, did not enter a plea at a separate hearing, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.
