Tajik Mohammad, an Afghan national, attempted to travel to the UK on January 17 before his arrest. He pleaded guilty at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday and will be sentenced there on June 10. The Crown Prosecution Service said he became the first person convicted of endangering others during a sea crossing to the UK.
According to the Crown Prosecution Service, Tajik Mohammad abandoned the dinghy he was driving across the English Channel and its passengers when a rescue ship arrived. The vessel was overcrowded, with some passengers lacking life jackets, during the attempted crossing in poor weather on January 17. The exact number of passengers on the dinghy has not been disclosed, and specific evidence beyond these general circumstances has not been made public.
The offence of endangering others during a Channel crossing came into force weeks prior under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act. Those who commit the offence could face up to five years in prison, or up to six years if they are in breach of a deportation order. According to the Home Office, the offence is designed to stop more people being crammed into unsafe boats and would apply to those involved in physical aggression and intimidation, as well as anyone who resists rescue.
forced to do so
In a related case, a 16-year-old boy was the first person to be charged with the offence of endangering others during a Channel crossing. The 16-year-old boy, an Afghan national, has denied endangering 46 people on January 5. According to The Independent - UK News, the 16-year-old boy described being forced to do so. The current status of his case and the evidence against him remain unclear.
When the plans for the new laws were first announced last January, Home Office sources said there had been instances of 'floating crime scenes' where people had acted in such a reckless way people died on board in crushes and drownings. Some 6,000 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel by inflatable dinghy so far this year.
Earlier this month, another alleged dinghy pilot, Sudanese national Alnour Mohamed Ali, 27, appeared before Folkestone Magistrates’ Court charged with endangering life, after two men and two women died trying to board a boat on April 9.
Senior CPS prosecutor James Fisher said in a press release that he was pleased the CPS had secured the first conviction for endangering the lives of others during a Channel crossing since it became an offence in January. He added that they would carry on using new laws to prosecute individuals and gangs who undermine UK border security. Fisher explained that the Channel is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world and they argued Tajik Mohammad abandoned the tiller on the arrival of the rescue ship, which along with the boat being overcrowded, some passengers not wearing life jackets, the weather conditions that day, and that small boats are shoddily made, meant he was endangering the lives of others, which he had accepted. The exact weather conditions on January 17 have not been detailed in court records.