People smugglers put dozens of people on an overloaded and unseaworthy dinghy that fell apart during a Channel crossing in which at least four died, a jury has heard, as the man accused of piloting the vessel faces trial for manslaughter.
Ibrahima Bah is accused of agreeing to steer the vessel to England in return for free passage from the criminal gang smuggling his fellow travellers from France.
Opening its case on Tuesday, the prosecution said several witnesses would testify that the vessel made it part way across the Channel, but failed shortly after reaching English waters.
Jurors at Canterbury crown court were told they would hear evidence suggesting Bah was beaten by people working for the smugglers as he and more than 40 other people prepared to board on the French coast, having tried to back out of the agreement to pilot the inflatable vessel on learning it was not wooden.
Duncan Atkinson KC said witnesses had reported the vessel was poorly constructed, unsuited for crossing the Channel and apparently lacked safety equipment. He told the jurors witnesses would show its flooring collapsed during the crossing, and that a loud noise was heard immediately before it began to deflate.
Prosecutors said Bah had continued to pilot it onwards, even as it disintegrated, and accused him of contributing to the deaths on 14 December 2022.
“Not only was the boat very significantly overloaded, which itself created a very serious risk to the safety of those on board, but there was insufficient equipment on board, including insufficient lifejackets,” Atkinson told the court.
“As the pilot of a vessel carrying passengers, he owed each of them a duty of care, to ensure their safety and protect them from the overwhelming risk to their lives posed by an uncharted voyage in an unseaworthy boat across the open sea.”
Atkinson said Bah was “aware that the boat was overcrowded, lacking in safety equipment and that, as it took in water, that it was increasingly unseaworthy”. He added: “It would have been abundantly clear that there was an obvious and serious risk of death to those on board. Such failure on his part for his passengers’ safety, leading to the deaths of at least four, amounts to manslaughter by gross negligence.”
The court heard that 39 people, including Bah, were rescued after the dinghy gave way.
Atkinson told the jurors: “The defendant may argue that he was acting under duress. He raised that in his interview and there may be some evidence from migrants that they witnessed some violence and threats, including towards the defendant.” But, he said, Bah had “voluntarily associated himself with people smugglers”, and duress offered no defence.
The case continues.
