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South Sudanese migrant jailed in UK for piloting record Channel boat crossing

Story by Reuters
• 13h • 2 min read




People on a boat used by Chan Mathok Atak, 19, to transport 165 migrants from France to Britain, in this handout picture taken during the crossing of the English Channel on July 23, 2026, as Atak has been sentenced to 27 months in prison at Canterbury Crown Court. National Crime Agency/Handout via REUTERS© Thomson Reuters

LONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - A South Sudanese man was jailed for two years and three months in an English court on Friday after he admitted piloting a small boat across the Channel from France, which carried a then-record 165 people.
Chan Mathok Atak, 19, previously pleaded guilty to endangering another during a July crossing to Britain in an inflatable dinghy.

The record for most migrants travelling to Britain across the Channel by small boat was broken again last month, when 230 people made the journey.
Atak's sentencing comes as the numbers of those arriving in Britain across the Channel have fallen, but the crossings remain a prominent political issue which successive British governments have struggled to tackle.
Earlier this month, hundreds of black-clad protesters gathered twice in two days on Britain's south coast, blocking streets in response to arrivals of small boats, which a government minister described as "thuggish".
Right-wing opposition parties and anti-migration activists have called for more action, but greater cooperation with French authorities and even repeated deaths have not deterred many people from seeking to make the perilous journey.



Chan Mathok Atak, 19, who transported 165 migrants from France to Britain, looks on in this handout picture on July 23, 2026. Atak has been sentenced to 27 months in prison at Canterbury Crown Court. National Crime Agency/Handout via REUTERS© Thomson Reuters

OVERCROWDED DINGHY CARRIED 165 PEOPLE
Atak was sentenced to 27 months in prison at Canterbury Crown Court. Prosecutor James Harrison said Atak piloted the dinghy for at least 90 minutes while it carried 164 other people, including 31 children aged 14 to 17.
He said there was no navigational or first aid equipment on the boat, which had only one of its two engines working and was slowly deflating and taking on sea water before it was intercepted by Britain's Border Force.

People on a boat used by Chan

Mathok Atak, 19, to transport 165 migrants from France to Britain, in this handout picture taken during the crossing of the English Channel on July 23, 2026, as Atak has been sentenced to 27 months in prison at Canterbury Crown Court. National Crime Agency/Handout via REUTERS© Thomson Reuters

Atak's lawyer Audrey Cherryl Mogan said Atak was a young asylum seeker from South Sudan who did not have anything to do with the number of people or the conditions on board.
Judge Sarah Counsell accepted there was no evidence Atak organised the journey, but said that "those who chose to steer such vessels assume responsibility for the safety of those on board".

Related video: Teen asylum seeker steers 14-meter-long dinghy with 165 migrants on board across the Channel (Metro)

Metro
Teen asylum seeker steers 14-meter-long dinghy with 165 migrants on board across the Channel

Video South Sudanese migrant jailed in UK for piloting record Channel boat crossing

"This undermines public confidence in the immigration system and places considerable strain on already stretched public resources," she added.
The National Crime Agency's senior investigating officer John Turner said in a statement: "Chan Atak was unimaginably reckless and his actions could have easily resulted in many deaths had this boat not been intercepted."
(Reporting by Sam TobinEditing by Ros Russell)

South Sudanese migrant jailed in UK for piloting record Channel boat crossing