ERITREAN MAN JAILED 18 MONTHS OVER CHANNEL CROSSING WITH 26 ABOARD

A 32-year-old Eritrean man has been jailed for 18 months for piloting a small boat carrying 26 other people, including six children, across the Channel towards the Kent coast. Winchester Crown Court heard Jemal Abdela pleaded guilty to endangering others during the crossing, which began at 17:00 BST on 24 July and was tracked by French authorities before immigration officers intercepted the vessel. Prosecutor Matthew Parris told the court Abdela dived into the centre of the boat and put on a hat in an attempt to disguise that he had been steering it. The black inflatable had no flares, GPS or maps on board, the court was told. A Home Office spokesman said Abdela was the 20th small boat pilot to be jailed in four months for endangering lives at sea. Judge James Bromige said Abdela would "ordinarily" be deported once his sentence is complete.

The court heard Abdela told police he paid €800 (£680) for the crossing and had initially been seated near the boat's captain before other passengers made him take control. Defending him, Francesca Hallett said Abdela had fled Eritrea, where he was born, and was later imprisoned in Addis Ababa because of his nationality. She said he then travelled through Sudan and Egypt to Libya, where people smugglers captured and tortured him for eight months before he was freed. Hallett said Abdela went on to Italy and France, both of which he described as unsafe for refugees, before deciding the UK was his safest option.

Anna Turley, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, described Abdela as a "reckless criminal" who had been "rightly jailed". The Home Office figure of 20 small boat pilots imprisoned in four months points to a continuing enforcement effort targeting those who steer Channel crossings. Abdela's case was handled at Winchester Crown Court, with sentencing concluded following his guilty plea to the charge of endangering others during the unauthorised sea crossing.