Migrant who drove overcrowded dinghy becomes first to be convicted of new Channel crossing offence
An immigrant has become the first person to be found guilty of endangering others when crossing by sea to the UK.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Tajik Mohammed, 32, abandoned the boat he was using and its passengers in the English Channel when a rescue ship arrived.
While trying to cross the ship in bad weather on January 17, the ship was overcrowded and some passengers did not have life jackets.
Mohammed, an Afghan national, traveled to the UK the day before his arrest.
He pleaded guilty at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday and will be sentenced there on June 10.
The offense, which is part of new measures to block channel crossings, was introduced just weeks ago under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act.
The first person charged with this crime was a 16-year-old boy.
The young man, who is also Afghan, denied endangering 46 people on January 5 and said at the court hearing that he was “forced to do so”.
Senior CPS prosecutor James Fisher said: “I am delighted that the CPS has secured the first conviction for endangering the lives of others while crossing the Channel since it became an offense in January.
“We will continue to use new laws to prosecute individuals and gangs who undermine the UK’s border security.
“The canal is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world and we claimed Tajik Mohammed abandoned the tiller on the arrival of the rescue ship.
“The overcrowding of the boat, the fact that some passengers were not wearing life jackets, the weather conditions on the day and the poor quality of the small boats meant that, as he acknowledged, he was endangering the lives of others.”
According to the Home Office, the offense is designed to prevent more people being crammed into unsafe boats and will apply to anyone who resists rescue, as well as those involved in acts of physical assault and intimidation.
When plans for the new laws were first announced last January, Home Office sources said there were examples of “floating crime scenes” where people acted so recklessly that people died from being crushed and drowned on board.
Those who commit the crime face up to five years in prison, or up to six years in prison if they violate the deportation order.
Earlier this month, another alleged boat pilot appeared in court in connection with the deaths of four migrants.
Alnour Mohamed Ali, a 27-year-old Sudanese national, appeared at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on charges of endangering life after two men and two women died while trying to board a boat on April 9.
So far this year, nearly 6,000 people have crossed the English Channel by inflatable boat to reach the UK.
