Sudanese man pleads guilty to endangering others after four deaths in Channel
He appeared at canterbury Crown Court
A Sudanese man has pleaded guilty to endangering others after four migrants drowned trying to cross the English Channel.
Alnour Mohamed Ali, 27, appeared at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday where he admitted the charge of endangering others during a sea crossing after the deaths of two men and two women on April 9th.
Aided by an Arabic interpreter, Ali pleaded guilty to piloting a boat which “thereby created a risk of death or serious personal injury to others aboard the boat”, knowing that he would arrive in the UK without valid entry clearance.
Four people drowned after being swept away by strong currents while trying to climb on to a dinghy at Equihen-Plage, near Boulogne-sur-Mer in France last month.
More than 40 people were rescued off the coast of northern France that morning.
Two children were among those taken to hospital as a precaution afterwards and another person was treated for hypothermia.
Endangering others during a journey by sea to the UK is a new offence introduced as part of border security legislation earlier this year.
Ali will be sentenced on June 10th.
This will be alongside the first man convicted of the same offence, Afghan national Tajik Mohammad, 32, also scheduled to be sentenced that day.
He abandoned a dinghy he was driving across the English Channel, and its passengers, when a rescue ship arrived on January 17th, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.