A South Sudanese teenager who operated a super-dinghy carrying a record-breaking number of migrants across the English Channel has been jailed.
Chan Atak, 19, was at the helm of a poor quality rigid inflatable boat carrying more than 160 people from France into British waters on July 23.
It represented the highest number of migrants carried illegally into the UK by a small boat at the time, although this has since been surpassed by a dinghy carrying 230 people last month.
Atak was handed an immediate custodial sentence of two years and three months after he admitted one count of endangering lives at sea.
Sentencing Atak at Canterbury Crown Court today, Her Honour Judge Sarah Counsell said: ‘Those who take responsibility at the helm of the boat take on the responsibility for the safety of its passengers.
‘The risks of continuing the journey in an overcrowded boat in the state that it was in, without appropriate experience of navigating, would have been obvious.’
The court heard Atak has applied for asylum in the UK after fleeing his home, but the judge said: ‘Sadly your circumstances are not unusual amongst those who seek to cross the Channel and seek asylum in the way that you did.’
The court heard the boat was not seaworthy – only one of its two outboard engines was working, and the tubing had started to deflate.
Chan Atak’s rigid inflatable boat (RIB) was carrying 165 people, a record at the time, when it travelled from the French mainland into British waters on July 23
Atak was filmed by drone while at the helm of a poor quality rigid inflatable boat
Atak, who is said to be 19 and from South Sudan, pleaded guilty to endangering lives at sea following a small-boat crossing
There was a lack of navigation equipment and safety provision, while the life jackets worn by most of the migrants on board were substandard.
The court heard the passengers included 31 children, the youngest being 14 years old, and had taken around 24 hours to complete the journey.
Those on board included nationals from countries in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Europe.
The judge said: ‘Crossings of this nature are inherently dangerous, the English Channel is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
‘Small inflatable vessels of the type commonly used for these crossings are not designed for offshore sea voyages.
‘Those who choose to steer such vessels assume responsibility for the safety of those on board and expose others to significant risks where that responsibility is exercised in dangerous conditions.
Migrants were packed onto Atak’s dinghy as it arrived into the UK from France during the summer
Atak, pictured in the white T-shirt, arriving at Dover along with more than 160 other migrants
The flimsy RIB used by Atak to cross the English Channel
‘Whilst the coastguard and Border Force do all they can to minimise the risk to life by seeking to intercept boats and rescue those on board, sadly their efforts are not always able to avoid injury and death.’
Drone footage appeared to show Atak operating the engine for around 90 minutes, before cutting the power and taking off his distinctive jacket as Border Force officials pulled alongside.
The prosecution said this was an attempt to mix in with other migrants and avoid detection as the pilot.
Prosecutor James Harrison said: ‘In interview, the defendant said he had paid 200 euro (£170) to a gang for the crossing but did not direct the tiller at any point during that crossing.
‘He specifically denied that he was wearing the jacket with the distinctive Italia logo.
‘When it was put to him that he had been seen to discard his jacket, he answered “No comment.”‘
He added: ‘Your Honour’s experience will tell you from cases of this type that the Channel’s tides and currents are a challenge to navigate, particularly in a vessel of this type, not manufactured perhaps to standards required to undertake such a crossing.’
Audrey Mogan, defending, said her client was at the helm but had nothing to do with the seaworthiness of the vessel, or the number of occupants.
She said: ‘Save for the fact he was piloting, there is not a single other shred of evidence to suggest that as (a 19-year-old) from South Sudan that he had anything to do with the number of people that ended up on that boat, that he had anything to do with the state of the dinghy, the fact that there were not life jackets or that those life jackets were inadequate, the lack of first aid equipment or flares.’
She said Atak, aided in court by an Arabic translator, was forcibly recruited by a militia in his homeland, but was able to flee via Libya, where he was beaten and forced into labour, and then Italy and France.
She said her client is a Christian and came to the UK ‘to seek sanctuary and safety’.
She added: ‘What we are talking about here is someone who has escaped the horrors of South Sudan.
‘Mr Atak was living in South Sudan where war has been raging for many years.
‘He was captured by a militia and effectively they raided a neighbourhood, set fire to it, he had seen people shot and their throats slashed, and he was then taken and forcibly recruited but was able to escape.’
The length of his sentence means he will be recommended for deportation from the UK.
However, lawyers may argue it is against his human rights to deport him from the country due to political instability and violence in South Sudan.
John Turner, senior investigating officer of the National Crime Agency, said: ‘Chan Atak was unimaginably reckless and his actions could have easily resulted in many deaths had this boat not been intercepted.
‘Not only did he place the lives of 165 migrants in severe peril, this flimsy vessel was entirely unsuitable for crossing one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
‘Combating the threat posed by the networks involved in organised immigration crime is one of our biggest priorities, and we currently have more than 100 investigations ongoing.’
Border security minister Anna Turley added: ‘Today’s sentencing rightly puts this evil criminal behind bars, and he joins 16 other pilots sentenced in just three months for endangering lives with flimsy, overcrowded dinghies.
‘This is a stark reminder of the ruthless acts used by smuggling gangs to exploit desperate people for profit, but today shows there is nowhere for them to hide.
‘With arrests for immigration crime surging, and the lowest number of small-boat arrivals over the summer since 2020, we are making progress. We will be relentless in bearing down on these dangerous and illegal crossings.’
The 165 migrants on Atak’s dinghy represented nearly half of the 366 people to have made the journey across the English Channel by so-called small boats that day.
More than 17,000 migrants have arrived illegally via the Channel so far this year.
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