Teen charged with endangering others during Channel crossing

A teenager believed to be the first person to be charged with endangering others during a sea crossing to the UK without valid entry clearance said he was "forced to do so".

Aman Naseri, 18, is accused of piloting a small boat with 46 people on board during the first Channel crossing of the year on 5 January, the day the new law came into force.

At Margate Magistrates' Court on Wednesday he pleaded not guilty to the offence.

Naseri, who is an Afghan national and followed proceedings through a Dari interpreter, has been remanded into custody to appear at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday.

Julie Farbrace, prosecuting, said: "We submit Mr Naseri has piloted a boat across the Channel.

"There were 46 other people on that boat and that by piloting the boat he put them in danger."

The new offence came into force under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, which became law in December.

According to the Home Office, the charge of endangering others during a sea crossing is to stop more people being crammed into unsafe boats and would apply to those involved in physical aggression and intimidation, as well as anyone who resists rescue.

When the plans for the offence were first announced in January 2025, Home Office sources said there had been instances of "floating crime scenes" where people had acted in such a reckless way people died on board in crushes and drownings.

The new charge could include physical or psychological injury, and covers journeys by water to the UK from France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Under the offence, those who endanger or risk another life at sea could face up to six years in prison.

In a separate case a man who supplied thousands of small boats and engines to people smugglers has been jailed.

Adem Savas, a Turkish national, was sentenced to 11 years in prison and received a fine of €400,000 (£346,000) on Wednesday, after admitting to offences of people smuggling and being a member of an organised crime group.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said it was thought he had made millions from the operation and described Savas as without a doubt the most significant supplier" to gangs behind the dangerous crossings between 2019 and 2024.

An NCA spokesperson said equipment supplied by Savas is thought to have been used in about half the Channel crossings in 2023.

Savas was sentenced at a court in Bruges, Belgium, after a joint operation between the NCA and Belgian authorities, having been arrested at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport in November 2024.