Asylum seeker detained after small boat crossing

The court was told Rout had no previous convictions or immigration history in the UK.

Rout was one of 55 people who travelled on a rigid inflatable boat, it heard.

“Self-evidently the dinghy was crossing a busy shipping lane and was very overcrowded”, prosecutor Oliver Kirk said.

He added that Rout had been in Spain and France before paying someone €500 [£431] ahead of travelling to the UK.

“He admitted he had driven the boat for about an hour,” Kirk said.

Meanwhile, two other defendants charged with endangering others during a sea crossing appeared at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday.

Sudanese national Jiechlat Buom, 25, pleaded not guilty to the charge after arriving on 24 May.

A four-day trial was scheduled for 23 November.

Sudanese national Kueth Gatkuoth, 31, also denied one count of endangering others during a sea crossing on 24 May and a provisional trial date of 30 November was set.

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