Teen Pleads Guilty Over 165-Migrant Channel Crossing, Facing Sentence on Sept. 11
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 24
Teen Pleads Guilty Over 165-Migrant Channel Crossing, Facing Sentence on Sept. 11
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 24
Summary
Chan Mathok Atak, 19, admitted at Canterbury Crown Court that he endangered others by piloting a dinghy carrying 165 migrants across the English Channel on July 23.
Prosecutors said the crossing created a risk of death or serious injury because the bus-length boat was dangerously overcrowded and began deflating in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
The 165-person voyage was a record single-boat arrival when it reached the UK, prompting rescuers to say they were astonished and alarmed by the number packed aboard.
The case uses a new endangerment-at-sea offence aimed at alleged small-boat pilots; that 165 record has already been overtaken by a 230-person “mega dinghy” earlier this month.