An asylum seeker has been jailed for seven months after he travelled by small boat to the UK across the English Channel following the May bank holiday weekend.
Friday Rout, from South Sudan, was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court to a young offenders’ institution on Tuesday, after admitting attempting to arrive in the UK without valid clearance on 26 May.
The 21-year-old also pleaded not guilty to one count of endangering others during a sea crossing and the pleas were accepted by the prosecution.
Sentencing him, Judge Simon James said: “There is significant and legitimate public concern regarding breaches of border control and this prevalent offence results in significant profits being made by organised criminal groups.
“I consider the public concern regarding this particular method of entry to the UK means the offence is so serious that an immediate sentence of imprisonment is demanded.”
The court heard Rout was one of 55 migrants who travelled on a rigid hull inflatable boat, and he spent some time “with his hand on the tiller of the dinghy”.
Prosecutor Oliver Kirk said: “Self evidently the dinghy was crossing a busy shipping lane and was very overcrowded.
“When he was interviewed he explained he had been in Spain for a few months, travelled to France, paid 500 euros to a Kurdish person then placed aboard the boat.
“He admitted he had driven the boat for about an hour.”
Rout, who was aided by an Arabic interpreter during the hearing, has no previous convictions or immigration history in the UK, the court heard.
Defending Rout, barrister Georgia Morgan said he was still a “very young individual” and he intended to come to the UK to look for “safety and security after fleeing a war-torn country”.
She said: “He is from South Sudan, he was living in Sudan with his family after leaving South Sudan due to the war.
“His father remained in South Sudan himself, separated from members of his family.”
The judge said he was informed Rout had made an application for asylum, but added: “That outstanding claim does not provide you with a defence.”
Meanwhile, three other defendants charged with endangering others during a sea crossing appeared at the same court on Tuesday.
Sudanese national Jiechlat Buom, 25, pleaded not guilty to the charge after arriving on 24 May.
The allegation included piloting the boat “which thereby created a risk of death or serious personal injury to others aboard the boat”.
A four-day trial was scheduled for 23 November.
Sudanese national Kueth Gatkuoth, 31, also denied one count of endangering others during a sea crossing on May 24, and a provisional trial date was set for 30 November.
Elsewhere Afghan national Romal Gulzada, 30, who is charged with endangering others during a sea crossing after arriving on May 27, according to the Crown Prosecution Service, did not enter any pleas at a separate hearing.
