The pilot of a small boat full of people, which crossed the Channel to the UK, has been jailed.
Daniel Malual was seen steering the dinghy by Border Force patrol on September 21, last year. He is accused of changing his clothes and “mingling with others” after he was seen at the steering the boat to avoid being identified as the helmsman.
The 24-year-old, who travelled to the UK with his wife and young child, says he got changed because his clothes were wet.
On Wednesday, Malual appeared at Teesside Crown Court to be sentenced after pleading guilty to attempting to arrive in the UK without valid entry clearance at a hearing in December. The Middlesbrough court heard that Malual has since applied for asylum.
He was arrested at a North Yorkshire hotel on November 12, last year. Malual told Border Force officials that he left Sudan in 2020. He said that he arrived in Italy where his fingerprints were taken and he travelled to Libya and France.
Malual said that he “wanted to come to the UK as he didn’t feel comfortable in other countries”. He said he made the travel arrangements for his family and that he left Sudan because of the “political difficulties”.
In mitigation, Daniel Carmichael told the court that Malual “accepts that he did not have permission to enter the UK” and that he had a scheduled phone interview with the Home Office on January 17, but that has now been cancelled because he is being held on remand at Holme House prison in Stockton.
Judge Jonathan Carroll told Malual: “As far as a we can tell, you are 24 and you have no known previous convictions. You arrived by crossing the Channel in a dinghy boat which had been well loaded with other potential claimants for asylum.
“All of them were entering the country illegally. You were piloting the boat. You were clearly aware of the prospect of being identified as the pilot by Border Force and you changed your clothes and started mingling with others.
“According to your account, you travelled to Italy, Libya and France before the UK. There are a series of countries that are open for you to claim asylum.
“But for your own reasons, and with complete disregard for the rules in place to provide asylum to those needing it, you came to the UK, bringing your partner and child.” Malual was jailed for 12 months. He will serve half of the prison term, before being released on licence.
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