Teen charged over supersized inflatable dinghy carrying record 165 migrants from France to Britain

A TEENAGER has been charged after a supersized inflatable dinghy carrying 165 migrants was intercepted in the channel. Sudanese national Chan Mathok Atak, 19, has been accused of endangering another during a journey by sea to the UK. A Border Security Command vessel tows the 13m boat in Dover, Kent Credit: PA Nigel Farage has said only Reform can ‘stop the boats’ Credit: PA The teen was allegedly piloting the 13metre long dinghy, the National Crime agency has said. He is due to appear at Margate Magistrates’ Court on Monday. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! The inflatable, which was around the size of a standard bus, was carrying the largest number of people to have been crammed into a single boat. It was picked up by a Border Force vessel on Wednesday, with the French lifeboat service calling it “alarming, unique, and exceptional”. The RNLI said: “We are astonished by the number of people on board.” The previous record was set earlier this month when 128 people made the crossing in one boat. Home Office figures revealed that 366 people arrived on Thursday across three boats as the warm, sunny weather brought calm conditions. The higher number of people in each boat is making the crossing route more dangerous, refugee charity Care4Calais said. Most read in The Sun Boats used in the Channel are most commonly made in China, and have no purpose other than to carry migrants across the narrow 21-mile strait. A total of 538 people have arrived in small boats during Andy Burnham’s first week as Prime Minister. So far this year 13,007 migrants have come to the UK across the Channel, a 45 per cent decrease compared to this time last year. A Home Office spokesperson previously said: “This Government is bearing down on small boat crossings, with removals of small boat migrants at record levels and asylum claims down by 12 per cent. “The Home Secretary has signed a landmark new deal with France to boost enforcement action on beaches and put people smugglers behind bars. “This builds on joint work that has stopped over 44,000 attempted crossings since the election. “We have removed or deported almost 70,000 people who were here illegally – an increase of 41 per cent – and are going further to remove the incentives that draw illegal migrants to this country.” Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage slammed the new PM for not mentioning the issue of immigration in his first speech and said: “Open borders Burnham will do nothing to stop the illegal and dangerous invasion of our country, he won’t even mention it. “Only Reform will stop the boats.”