Sudanese Channel boat pilot who was identified by his garish festive jumper is jailed
A Sudanese man has been identified as the pilot of an overcrowded migrant boat because of the distinctive Christmas jumper he was wearing.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the boat driven by 27-year-old Bol Chuol was stopped off the Kent coast while trying to cross the English Channel with 71 people on board, including an 11-month-old baby, on March 22.
Prosecutors said that people’s feet were dangling in the sea because the sea was very crowded, not everyone was wearing a life jacket, water had entered the boat and there were no lights to make it visible.
As the boat approached the British coast, Chuol was filmed by drones throwing his jacket into the sea and moving off the boat to avoid detection.
However, the Christmas jumper he was filmed wearing was later identified by immigration officials.
The CPS said Chuol was sentenced to two years in prison at Canterbury Crown Court after pleading guilty to endangering the lives of others by piloting small boats.
Charun Magok, 19, was sentenced to 16 months in prison by the same court on March 20 after using a boat designed for five people but with six people on board.
He later told immigration officials that he had no experience of driving a boat and admitted it was dangerous to cross the Channel.
Bol Chuol was identified as a canal boat pilot because of the loud Christmas jumper he wore.
He wore a jumper while piloting a boat that was stopped off the Kent coast while trying to cross the Channel in March.
Endangering others during a sea voyage to the UK is an offense under new border security legislation that came into force in January.
Prosecutor Andrew Stephens said: ‘The inflatable boats used by Bol Chuol and Charun Magok were dangerously unfit to cross the Channel.
‘It is fortunate that no one was seriously injured or killed… if they apply for asylum their convictions will be taken into account.’
