The boat lacked security gear and took on water earlier than interception by UK Border Power, authorities say.
Revealed On 19 Sep 2026
A 19-year-old asylum seeker has been jailed within the UK for steering an overcrowded dinghy throughout the English Channel, within the newest prosecution below a brand new legislation concentrating on those that pilot boats used to smuggle migrants into Britain.
Chan Mathok Atak, from South Sudan, was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court docket in southeast England on Friday to 2 years and three months, after admitting a cost of endangering others through the crossing from France.
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The legislation, launched in January this 12 months, is geared toward those that steer boats that put passengers’ lives in danger, although distinct from older fees akin to aiding unlawful immigration.
Prosecutors stated Atak, believed to have been one in every of two individuals who took turns piloting the boat, steered the roughly 14-metre (46ft) dinghy, in regards to the size of a bus, for a minimum of 90 minutes on July 23 with 165 folks on board, together with 31 youngsters aged between 14 and 17.
On the time, it was the biggest quantity recorded on a single small boat crossing the Channel – earlier than a ship carrying 230 folks surpassed the file in August.
The courtroom heard the boat had just one working engine and no navigation or first-aid gear, and was deflating and slowly taking up water earlier than it was intercepted by Border Power.
Though no proof was introduced that Atak organised the crossing, Decide Sarah Counsell stated the offence was severe sufficient that “solely a direct custodial sentence could be justified”, warning that he may nonetheless face automated deportation as soon as his sentence ends.
Atak’s lawyer, Audrey Mogan, stated there was “not a single shred of proof” linking him to the boat’s overcrowding or its lack of security gear, saying her consumer was a younger asylum seeker who had fled violence in South Sudan.
The sentencing has been seen as a part of the British authorities’s wider crackdown on migration and Channel crossings.
The primary convictions below the brand new legislation happened in June, when an Afghan and a Sudanese nationwide had been every jailed for a minimum of two years for comparable offences, because the UK seems to be for tactics to discourage the tens of thousands who try the crossing every year.
Dwelling Workplace Minister Anna Turley stated in July that “should you danger the lives of others by bringing unlawful migrants to British shores on harmful small boats, you’ll face justice”.
Dwelling Secretary Shabana Mahmood advised MPs in February that the extent of crossings was “unacceptable”, saying tackling it might take “long-term, cautious, painful work”.
A whole lot of protesters gathered over two days on England’s south coast earlier this month, blocking streets in response to small migrant boat arrivals, at the same time as authorities figures present the variety of these crossing into the nation since January has fallen in contrast with 2025.
