Ibrahima Bah: Boat pilot denies saying he would kill passengers

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 has denied he was heard saying: "I will either take you there or kill you all".

Ibrahima Bah admits he agreed to pilot the boat in return for a free crossing.

But he told Canterbury Crown Court last week he changed his mind when he saw it because it was too small.

He claimed he was assaulted by smugglers and threatened with death if he did not go ahead.

At least 43 migrants were on board when the boat sank on 14 December 2022.

The court was previously told that during the journey, one of the passengers said he heard Mr Bah make the comment - he thought jokingly - about getting the passengers there.

But under cross-examination on Monday, Mr Bah said: "I never promised to anyone: 'I'll take you there or kill you.'"

Duncan Atkinson KC, prosecuting, asked Mr Bah if he recognised he had a responsibility to his passengers.

Mr Bah responded: "All I wanted to do was to get to our destination safely. I was doing the steering and people were giving me directions."

'The only way'

Mr Atkinson put it to him: "All that mattered was you getting to this country"

Mr Bah said: "I wanted to get into this country peacefully".

He added that piloting the boat "was the only way for me to get to this country and claim asylum."

Asked if he was willing to get to the UK "however dangerous, whatever the risk" by Mr Atkinson, the defendant said he "wasn't thinking about that at the time".

The prosecution suggested that the boat had been in trouble for some time before it got to a fishing vessel that rescued many of those on board - and the defendant had not being telling the truth about the state of the boat.

"Everything I'm saying now I went through it, I experienced it, I saw it, and it's the truth," Mr Bah told the court.

He denies four counts of manslaughter, and facilitating a breach of UK immigration law.

The trial continues.

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