A migrant has become the first person convicted of endangering others during a sea crossing to the UK.
Tajik Mohammad, 32, abandoned the dinghy he was driving across the English Channel and its passengers when a rescue ship arrived, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
The vessel was overcrowded, with some passengers lacking life jackets, during the attempted crossing in poor weather on January 17.
Mohammad, an Afghan national, travelled to the UK that day before his arrest.
He pleaded guilty at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday and will be sentenced there on June 10.
The offence, part of new measures to curb Channel crossings, only came into force weeks prior under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act.
A 16-year-old boy was the first person to be charged with the offence.
The teenager – who is also an Afghan – has denied endangering 46 people on January 5, telling a court hearing he was “forced to do so”.
James Fisher, a senior CPS prosecutor said: “I’m pleased the CPS has secured the first conviction for endangering the lives of others during a Channel crossing since it became an offence in January.
“We will carry on using new laws to prosecute individuals and gangs who undermine UK border security.
“The Channel is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world and we argued Tajik Mohammad abandoned the tiller on the arrival of the rescue ship.
“That, along with the boat being overcrowded, some passengers not wearing life jackets, the weather conditions that day, and that small boats are shoddily made, meant he was endangering the lives of others, which he’s accepted.”
According to the Home Office, the offence is designed to stop more people being crammed into unsafe boats and would apply to those involved in physical aggression and intimidation, as well as anyone who resists rescue.
When the plans for the new laws were first announced last January, Home Office sources said there had been instances of “floating crime scenes” where people had acted in such a reckless way people died on board in crushes and drownings.
Those who commit the offence could face up to five years in prison, or up to six years if they are in breach of a deportation order.
Earlier this month, another alleged dinghy pilot appeared in court over the deaths of four migrants.
Sudanese national Alnour Mohamed Ali, 27, appeared before Folkestone Magistrates’ Court charged with endangering life, after two men and two women died trying to board a boat on April 9.
Some 6,000 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel by inflatable dinghy so far this year.
