An asylum seeker has been jailed for nine years and six months for the manslaughter of four migrants who drowned trying to cross the English Channel.
Ibrahima Bah was found guilty of killing the migrants when he piloted an "unseaworthy" boat between France and the UK.
He will be detained in a Young Offenders Institution, until it is determined he has reached the age of 21, which is when he will be moved to adult custody.
Canterbury Crown Court heard that Bah was told by smugglers they would kill him if he did not drive the boat but the prosecution said he was not telling the truth and he owed his fellow passengers a "duty of care" as their pilot.
A man who was convicted of the manslaughter of four fellow migrants while seeking passage across the English Channel, has been jailed (stock pic)
PA/Kent Police
The "home-built, low-quality" inflatable should not have had more than 20 people on board but carried at least 43 people in the English Channel that night, jurors were told.
Justice Johnson KC, said: "The boat was wholly inadequate, and not remotely seaworthy for a Channel crossing.
"It was a death trap, just as every boat of its type which sets of across the Channel in similar circumstances is a death trap – the fact that in many cases fatalities do not occur is not remotely reassuring.
"What happened is an utter tragedy for those who died and for their families."
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The majority of the asylum seekers on board paid thousands of euros, but it appears Bah did not pay for his journey because he piloted the dingy.
Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC said Bah was not trained or licensed to lead the voyage and there was insufficient safety equipment such as life jackets and no flares or radio on board.
Migrants who survived described water reaching their knees within 30 minutes of leaving the French coast.
The group were rescued by a fishing boat after everyone on board began screaming and trying to call for help on their mobile phones.
Ibrahima Bah was found guilty of killing the migrants when he piloted an 'unseaworthy' boat between France and the UK
Kent Police
One asylum seeker, Amrullah Ahmadzai told the court how the skipper tried to steer the dinghy towards the fishing vessel to help the passengers and without him "we would have all died".
The UK fishing boat, called the Arcturus, attempted to rescue passengers with help from the RNLI, air ambulance and UK Border Force.
A total of 39 survivors were brought to shore in the port of Dover.
Supporters of Bah are expected to hold a protest outside the Home Office tonight as Captain Support UK, a solidarity platform for those accused of driving boats to Europe, said his conviction was a "violent escalation in the persecution of migrants to ‘Stop the Boats".
