A man has been jailed for 18 months for piloting a small boat carrying 26 other people, including six children, towards the Kent coast.

Jemal Abdela, 32, was sentenced after pleading guilty to the offence of endangering others during a sea crossing to the UK without valid entry clearance on July 25.

Winchester Crown Court heard Abdela, who is Eritrean, had also attempted to disguise the fact he had been driving the black inflatable across the Channel when it was approached by immigration officers.

A Home Office spokesman said Abdela was the 20th small boat pilot to be imprisoned in four months for endangering lives at sea.

Matthew Parris, prosecuting, told the court that the defendant was seen piloting the boat, which was being followed by French authorities.

He said Abdela had “dived into the centre of the boat and moved to another location wearing a hat” before being identified, adding that the vessel did not have flares, GPS or maps onboard.

The court heard that Abdela told police he had paid €800 (£680) for the crossing, which had begun at 17:00 BST the previous day.

He also claimed to have been sat by the captain of the boat, but was then made to take over control of the vessel by the other passengers.

Francesca Hallett, defending, said that Abdela had managed to “escape” war-torn Eritrea, where he was born.

She said that he first went to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, but was imprisoned because of his Eritrean nationality.

He then went on to travel through Sudan and Egypt to Libya where he was captured and tortured by people smugglers for eight months and was later freed.

Hallett added that Abdela moved on to Italy and France, both of which he described as “not safe for refugees”.

“At that stage he felt the UK was the safest option,” she said.

Sentencing Abdela, Judge James Bromige said that he would “ordinarily” be deported on completion of his time in prison.

Anna Turley, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, called Abdela a “reckless criminal” who had been “rightly jailed”.

Additional reporting by PA Media

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