A South Sudanese teenager who led a dangerously overcrowded super-dinghy across the Channel has admitted endangering lives at sea.
Chan Atak, 19, is facing jail and possible deportation after pleading guilty to his part in the plot.
His rigid inflatable boat (RIB) was carrying more than 160 people, a record at the time, when it travelled from the French mainland into British waters on July 23.
Judge Sarah Counsell said Atak had ‘pleaded guilty to a serious offence’ when he appeared for a short hearing at Canterbury Crown Court today.
A previous hearing at Margate Magistrates’ Court had heard the RIB was carrying more than 160 people and that the boat was of poor quality and overcrowded.
Atak, who was aided by an Arabic interpreter, will be sentenced on September 11.
It comes as last month an Afghan man who steered an overcrowded dinghy in the Channel for two hours was jailed for two years for endangering others.
Basir Ramatullah, also known as Baseer Ahmad, had pleaded guilty to endangering others during a sea crossing on May 2.
Migrants landing at Dover on July 23
A super-dinghy, pictured on August 10, carrying scores of migrants across the English Channel to the UK
The offence came into force in January as part of new border security legislation.
Home Office figures show the migrants on Atak's boat were among more than 2,300 to have arrived in the UK illegally across the Channel during the month of July.