Man pleads guilty over death of four Channel crossing migrants

A Sudanese man has admitted to endangering a group of small boat migrants after they drowned in the English Channel.

Alnour Mohamed Ali, 27, pleaded guilty to the charge of endangering others during a sea crossing after the deaths of two men and two women on 9 April.

The four drowned after being swept away as they tried to climb onto a dinghy at Equihen-Plage, near Boulogne-sur-Mer in France last month.

Speaking through an Arabic interpreter, Ali pleaded guilty to piloting a boat which "thereby created a risk of death or serious personal injury to others aboard the boat", knowing that he would arrive in the UK without valid entry clearance.

More than 40 people were rescued off the coast of northern France that morning.

Two children were among those taken to hospital as a precaution afterwards and another person was treated for hypothermia.

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Endangering others during a journey by sea to the UK is a new offence introduced as part of border security legislation earlier this year.

He is due to be sentenced on 10 June.

Afghan national Tajik Mohammad, 32, the first man convicted of the same offence, is also set to be sentenced that day.

(c) Sky News 2026: Man pleads guilty over death of four Channel crossing migrants