Canterbury Crown Court in Kent handed down a prison sentence of two years and three months for endangering dozens of migrants during a perilous sea crossing across the English Channel.

A 19-year-old asylum seeker from South Sudan, who had reached Britain by irregular means along with 164 other migrants — including 31 children aged 14 to 17 — on July 23, pleaded guilty to the charges in a bid to receive a lenient sentence.

The case, however, was aggravated by the fact that one of the two engines on the vessel had stopped functioning and the tubing on the boat had begun to deflate, which could have ended in loss of lives, the prosecution argued.

Furthermore, the court heard that there were no navigational instruments nor any first aid equipment on the boat during the journey.

The small vessel was ultimately intercepted by Britain's Border Force and taken to safety.

At the time of arrival, the crossing was one of the greatest number of people on board a single boat to arrive in the UK ever recorded. Last month, however, all previous records were broken when a single boat brought 230 people ashore.

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Boat pilot could face deportation

The prosecution also provided aerial footage of the crossing, which showed the defendant piloting the boat for 90 minutes. The video also showed how the South Sudanese man later tried to "avoid detection as the helmsman."

The man could be subject to deportation once his prison sentence is completed; however, under current circumstances, South Sudan is considered an unstable country with a de-facto ban on deportations.

In June, another two migrants were also jailed for similar offenses. A 32-year-old Afghan and a 27-year-old Sudanese national were given two-year sentences each for endangering the lives of migrants at sea.

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Getting serious about irregular arrivals: Britain's new policies

Piloting a migrant boat became a new offense at the beginning of the year as part of a series of legislative changes in the UK designed to curb irregular crossings.

The immigration reforms came amid growing discontent among the British public over tens of thousands of irregular migrants continuing to arrive on Britain's shores from across the Channel on unseaworthy vessels.

Though overall arrival rates have dipped, irregular crossings remain an important political issue in Britain, with successive governments over the years failing to stop the irregular arrivals, and losing popularity at the polls because of it.

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Some migrants were prosecuted under previous laws already for manning dinghies and other small boats covered by existing legislation like assisting unlawful immigration.

The new laws have provisions to show more clemency towards underage migrants, as many of the small boat pilots tend to be unaccompanied minors, who — in exchange for navigating the Channel — pay less to people smugglers who organize and facilitate these irregular journeys.

However, with the migrant in this case already being an adult, the court dismissed attempts by the defense to take his young age into account.

Handing down the sentence, judge Sarah Counsell said the teen had played an "important role" in maneuvring the boat, stressing that his involvement was not "fleeting or incidental."

with AFP, Reuters