A teenager has pleaded guilty to endangering others during a sea crossing after piloting a dinghy carrying 165 migrants across the English Channel to the UK.
Chan Mathok Atak, 19, originally from South Sudan, admitted the offence at Canterbury Crown Court in relation to a crossing on 23 July. Prosecutors said Atak created a risk of death or serious personal injury to others on board the boat.
Rescuers reportedly expressed alarm at the number of people packed onto the dinghy, which was described as being about the same length as a bus before it began deflating in a busy shipping lane. At the time of the crossing, the dinghy set a record for the largest number of people brought over in a single boat.