Asylum seeker’s appeal against conviction and sentence for Channel boat deaths rejected

An asylum seeker, convicted in connection with piloting a vessel in the English Channel that resulted in the drowning of four individuals, has had his attempt to appeal his convictions and sentence denied. Ibrahima Bah received a conviction for manslaughter and for aiding a violation of UK immigration legislation, leading to a sentence of nine and a half years’ detention in February. This followed his role in steering the dinghy during an attempted crossing on 14 December 2022. At a retrial held at Canterbury Crown Court, Bah asserted that smugglers had issued death threats if he refused to operate the boat; however, the prosecution contended that his account was untruthful. Previously, at the Court of Appeal, Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr determined that Bah was unable to proceed with the appeal, stating that it was not “arguable.” Richard Thomas KC, representing Bah, had previously characterized the trial as “touching on a highly politicised issue which gives rise to very strong feelings.” The jury was informed that the inflatable dinghy, which was home-built and of low quality, was designed to carry a maximum of 20 individuals but transported approximately 45 people across the English Channel on the night in question. Mr. Thomas informed the Court of Appeal that the journey to the UK had been a “joint endeavour.” He stated that the passengers undertook the journey “knowing the risks involved.” Nevertheless, Baroness Carr rejected this argument, further commenting: “The judge correctly analysed that the fact that the deceased volunteered to join the boat could not establish a break in the chain of causation; the evidence to that effect was thus irrelevant to causation.” She additionally ruled that the trial judge had provided appropriate instructions to the jury, asserting: “An instruction to the jury inviting them to consider whether the fact that the deceased boarded the boat of their own free will broke the chain of causation would have amounted to a misdirection.” The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) objected to the appeal attempt. Duncan Atkinson KC, representing the CPS, had previously stated: “This is a case where the passengers on the boat were acting in concert with their pilot.” He further remarked: “It was not the background or the scene setting, it was the continued act of facilitation at the time of their deaths which provided the circumstances in which the deaths occurred.” The judge had previously imposed Bah’s sentence, identifying him as a Senegalese national and estimating his age to be approximately 20 years old. Thirty-nine individuals who survived were transported to the Port of Dover subsequent to a UK fishing vessel encountering the sinking dinghy. Assistance was provided by the RNLI, air ambulance services, and the UK Border Force. Three of the fatalities were identified solely as unknown male persons. The fourth individual was named Hajratullah Ahmadi, a 31-year-old man originating from Afghanistan.