Teenager from South Sudan admits piloting super-dinghy full of UK-bound migrants across the Channel

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 10:59 EDT, 24 August 2026 | Updated: 11:05 EDT, 24 August 2026 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 the prospect of being deported after he pleaded guilty to his part in the plot.His rigid inflatable boat (RIB) was carrying more than 160 people when it made its way 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.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 UKThe 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.