Two men who piloted small boats have become the first offenders to be sentenced for a new offence of endangering others during a Channel crossing.
Afghan national Mohammad Tajik, 32, and Sudanese national Alnour Ali, 26, were at Canterbury Crown Court for two years and 27 months respectively on Wednesday.
Sentencing them, Judge Simon James said: “The inherent dangers of seeking to navigate one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world in a vessel which was never designed to undertake such a journey are obvious.
“However the risk of death and serious injury are significantly increased when boats have no navigational aides, are overcrowded and those on board are not adequately equipped with safety equipment.”
Endangering others during a journey by sea to the UK is a new offence that came into force in January as part of new border security legislation.
Mohammad was the first to be convicted under the new law having pleaded guilty at Canterbury Crown Court on April 21.
According to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the 32-year-old abandoned the dinghy he was driving across the English Channel and its passengers when a rescue ship arrived on January 17.
The boat was overcrowded and some passengers were not wearing life jackets during the attempted crossing in poor weather conditions, the CPS said.
Elsewhere, Ali admitted the charge of endangering others during a sea crossing on April 9 at the same court last month.
That day two men and two women drowned after being swept away by strong currents while trying to climb on to a dinghy at Equihen-Plage, near Boulogne-sur-Mer in France.
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