Asylum seeker detained after small boat crossing

An asylum seeker who travelled by small boat to the UK across the English Channel has been detained for seven months.

Friday Rout, from South Sudan, was detained at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday to a young offenders' institution after admitting attempting to arrive in the UK without valid clearance on 26 May.

The 21-year-old also pleaded not guilty to one count of endangering others during a sea crossing, which was accepted by the prosecution along with his guilty plea.

Sentencing Rout, Judge Simon James said there was "significant and legitimate public concern regarding breaches of border control".

He added: "I consider the public concern regarding this particular method of entry to the UK means the offence is so serious that an immediate sentence of imprisonment is demanded."

Rout's defence, barrister Georgia Morgan, said he was still a "very young individual" and he intended to come to the UK to look for "safety and security after fleeing a war-torn country".

South Sudan - the world's youngest country - has experienced years of conflict with the UN warning that it is at risk of sliding back into full-scale civil war.

Judge James said Rout's outstanding asylum claim in the UK did not provide him with a defence.

The court was told Rout had no previous convictions or immigration history in the UK.

Rout was one of 55 people who travelled on a rigid inflatable boat, it heard.

"Self-evidently the dinghy was crossing a busy shipping lane and was very overcrowded", prosecutor Oliver Kirk said.

He added that Rout had been in Spain and France before paying someone €500 [£431] ahead of travelling to the UK.

"He admitted he had driven the boat for about an hour," Kirk said.

Meanwhile, two other defendants charged with endangering others during a sea crossing appeared at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday.

Sudanese national Jiechlat Buom, 25, pleaded not guilty to the charge after arriving on 24 May.

A four-day trial was scheduled for 23 November.

Sudanese national Kueth Gatkuoth, 31, also denied one count of endangering others during a sea crossing on 24 May and a provisional trial date of 30 November was set.

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