An asylum seeker who piloted an “unseaworthy” boat where four passengers drowned in the English Channel was on Monday found guilty of manslaughter.
Ibrahima Bah, who is over 18, killed four other migrants while seeking passage from France to the UK on December 14, 2022.
Bah, from Senegal, was found guilty by the jury by a majority of 10 to 2 of four counts of manslaughter and was found guilty unanimously of facilitating illegal entry to the UK following a retrial at Canterbury Crown Court.
During the trial, jurors were told the home-built; low-quality inflatable should have had no more than 20 people on board but, in fact, tried to carry at least 43 people across the English Channel that night.
While the majority of travellers paid thousands of euros to smugglers for a spot in the overcrowded vessel, prosecutor Duncan Atkinson said it appears Bah did not pay for his journey because he piloted the dingy, therefore owing his fellow passengers a “duty of care.”
But Atkinson 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.
Atkinson said: “He, as the pilot, owed to the passengers of that small and vulnerable boat for their safety during the crossing that he had agreed to make.
“He was aware that the boat was overcrowded, lacking in safety equipment and, as it took in water, that it was increasingly unseaworthy.”
The court heard that when the boat got into trouble a number of migrants inside the boat described water reaching their knees within 30 minutes of leaving the French coast.
Atkinson said: “In spite of these increasing and obvious problems, the defendant continued to head into UK waters.”
The jury heard that a crew on a UK fishing boat called the Arcturus came across the sinking boat and tried to rescue the passengers, with help from the lifeboat service, air ambulance and UK Border Force.
A total of 39 survivors were brought to shore in the port of Dover.
The exact number of migrants who drowned is unknown as it appears at least one migrant’s body was not recovered, Atkinson said.
Bah will be sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday.
