Ibrahima Bah was sentenced as if he was 20 years old, the judge said
By Amy Walker
BBC News, South East
A migrant who piloted a boat where four passengers drowned in the English Channel has been sentenced to nine years and six months.
Ibrahima Bah was convicted of manslaughter on Monday over the deaths of the migrants who were on a dingy he steered during an attempted crossing.
The judge sentenced Bah on the basis he is “about 20 years old”. 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.
He will serve two-thirds of his sentence in custody.
The case is the first time a migrant who navigated an inflatable has been found responsible for harm caused to other occupants, the BBC’s home and legal correspondent, Dominic Casciani, said.
The Senegalese migrant had claimed he was forced by violent smugglers to make the journey to the UK in December 2022.
Ibrahima Bah, circled, during the trawler rescue
Sentencing him at Canterbury Crown Court, the judge, Mr Justice Johnson, said the “primary responsibility” for the offences lay with people smugglers who had procured a “wholly unsafe and unsatisfactory” vessel.
He told Bah: “What happened is an utter tragedy for those who died and their families. This is also a tragedy for you – your dream of starting a new life in the UK is in tatters.”
He was found guilty by the jury by a majority of 10 to two on four counts of gross negligence manslaughter, which the CPS describes as where a death is a result of a grossly negligent act or omission on the part of the defendant.
They also found Bah guilty of facilitating a breach of immigration law.
He added that the boat was a “death trap” and that passengers were aware of the “obvious” risk but “freely and voluntarily embarked on the journey”, but that Bah bore “high culpability” for the offences.
During a three-week retrial, jurors heard that Bah made the crossing in exchange for a free passage.
But Bah told the court he changed his mind about piloting the boat when he arrived at a beach and saw it was too small for the number of passengers.
Image source, CPS
The inflatable was not seaworthy, Bah’s trial was told
The low-quality inflatable should not have held more than 20 people.
Bah claimed he was assaulted by smugglers and threatened with death if he did not take on the job.
Duncan Atkinson KC, prosecuting, said because he piloted the dingy he owed his fellow passengers a “duty of care”.
Mr 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.
You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X, formerly Twitter, to get the latest alerts.
Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk.
Related Topics
Related Internet Links
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
