Judges at Canterbury Crown Court sentenced two men to at least two years in prison each for causing risk of death or injury to migrants during an irregular crossing of the English Channel.

The offense is part of a new security and immigration law that came into force in January this year and comes with a maximum five-year prison sentence.

The two men had each navigated an overcrowded small boat from France to Britain, with one journey taking place in January and the other in April. 

Both men have also submitted asylum claims in the UK.

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First case: piloting a boat in icy waters

The first of the two individuals to be convicted was a 32-year-old Afghan national over a crossing on January 17, with more than 70 people on board an unseaworthy vessel, including several children.

His defense team argued that the father-of-one had left Afghanistan after witnessing the Taliban shoot and kill his father and brother.

However, Prosecutor Daniel Bunting said during the proceedings that the man was still culpable under the new law as he had "no experience or knowledge of piloting a boat, he was asking others to look on YouTube for assistance." 

Bunting also stressed that the case against him was largely in relation to the conditions of the crossing, with the weather conditions being very cold at the time — upon which the defendant decided to plead guilty to the charges.

The Canterbury judge handed down a two-year sentence in this case; Judge Simon James said during the sentencing: "The inherent dangers of seeking to navigate one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world in a vessel which was never designed to undertake such a journey are obvious."

"However, the risk of death and serious injury are significantly increased when boats have no navigational aids, are overcrowded, and those on board are not adequately equipped with safety equipment."

Second case: navigation under duress

The second person to be convicted was a 27-year-old Sudanese national who had steered another migrant boat across the Channel in April, bringing over 70 people to the UK on a vessel which had no safety equipment on it.

The defense argued that the man from the beleaguered Darfur region of Sudan had been ordered to steer the boat by armed people traffickers when he embarked on the journey.

Prosecutor Bunting meanwhile stressed that "a wave or gust of wind could have capsized the boat," which in the end trumped the defense's argument.

Upon pleading guilty to the charges, the defendant was sentenced to 27 months in prison.

In a separate incident that took place in the Channel on the same day as this crossing, two men and two women drowned while attempting to reach Britain; this event had erroneously been conflated with this incident in some media reports at the time.

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Over a dozen cases still pending

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) meanwhile said in a statement that it has already charged a total of 15 migrants with the new offense.

"I'm pleased that we have the first endangerment sentences since the new law came into force earlier this year," said Sarah Dineley, the head of immigration crime at the CPS.

"We have more cases going through the courts and I anticipate there will be more convictions this year," she added.

UK Migration minister Mike Tapp meanwhile commented that the two sentences provided a "direct blow" to the small boat gangs "by tracking down and jailing their pilots."

"We are using every lever at our disposal to make sure the vile criminals who bring illegal migrants to our shores face justice."

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with AFP, dpa