Channel crossings: Migrant jailed for smuggling people in dinghy
- Published
Ten people from Sudan and Yemen crossed the English Channel on 7 July
A Sudanese man has been jailed for smuggling himself and nine other migrants into the UK in a dinghy.
Altaib Mobarak, 43, steered the boat across the English Channel on 7 July.
He was given a two-year sentence at Canterbury Crown Court after pleading guilty to assisting unlawful entry into the country.
The boat was seen to take "evasive action" to avoid a French coastguard vessel before being intercepted by Border Force, the Home Office said.
All of those onboard, including two children, were brought safely to Dover, where immigration officers discovered they were from Sudan and Yemen.
Dan O'Mahoney, who was appointed to the new role of "clandestine Channel threat commander" earlier this month, said people who try to cross "one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, in unsuitable boats and without appropriate maritime skills, are putting at risk the lives of all those on board".
"It is precisely because of this risk to life - a reality that we have seen confirmed in yesterday's tragic incident - that we are determined to put a stop to these dangerous crossings," he added.