Channel Boat Pilot Loses Appeal Over Manslaughter Conviction in Migrant Deaths

Ibrahima Bah was sentenced to nine and a half years after four migrants died in a sinking dinghy he piloted across the English Channel in December 2022.

Ibrahima Bah, a Senegalese asylum seeker, was convicted of manslaughter and facilitating illegal entry to the UK after a dinghy he piloted sank in the English Channel, killing four migrants.
Bah argued that smugglers threatened his life to force him to steer the overcrowded and unsafe vessel, but the court rejected his claim, citing his duty of care to passengers.
The Court of Appeal dismissed Bah's attempt to challenge his conviction and sentence, with Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr ruling that his arguments were not legally valid.
The dinghy, described as a 'death trap,' was overcrowded with 45 people despite being designed for 20, and lacked essential safety equipment for the dangerous crossing.
Of the four who died, three remain unidentified, while the fourth victim, Hajratullah Ahmadi, was a 31-year-old father from Afghanistan with a six-year-old daughter.