Ibrahima Bah: Smugglers forced man to pilot boat, court hears

Ibrahima Bah sketched at a previous hearing at Canterbury Crown Court

A man accused of the manslaughter of four migrants whose boat got into difficulty in the Channel was violently assaulted by smugglers when he refused to pilot it, a court has heard.

Canterbury Crown Court heard that Ibrahima Bah, also a migrant, offered to pilot the vessel in exchange for a free crossing.

He then refused when he saw its size.

Mr Bah is charged with four counts of manslaughter and facilitating a breach of immigration law, which he denies.

At least 43 people made the crossing on 14 December 2022, but not all passengers had life jackets and four men died.

Mr Bah described how there were too few lifejackets for the passengers and, referencing a previous police interview, Mr Bah confirmed that he had been worried he would be killed for a jacket if something went wrong on board.

He described setting off from shore and told the court smugglers said to someone sitting in the boat: "The lights you see over there, that's England, once you get to British waters, you'll be rescued."

Slapped and kicked

Mr Bah, who is speaking via an interpreter throughout his trial, said the vessel was too small and with too many people.

He told the court: "Once we got there and I saw that boat had been assembled, and I then saw the number of people who were going to be travelling, that's when I said no I'm not doing it.

"I was beaten up and they showed me that if I didn't pilot the boat they were going to beat me up and kill me."

He said he did not ask his fellow passengers for help, adding: "They were all scared, some of them had been slapped, kicked, with a stick.

"I thought I did my best to try and escape from [the smugglers] but I couldn't."

But the prosecution said Mr Bah had been inconsistent in the reasons he refused to pilot the boat.

Duncan Atkinson KC said the violent assault "just didn't happen."

The prosecution claims that while Mr Bah spent three months at a camp near Dunkirk known as the jungle, he sought out smugglers and showed someone a video of him on his phone standing by a boat engine - in the hope of being offered free passage if he piloted the vessel.

Mr Bah said a smuggler only saw the video of him on his boat by coincidence, when he was charging his phone.

He added that he did not seek anyone out and said: "I am clear, I didn't see a smuggler at all".

The trial at Canterbury Crown Court continues.

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