Ibrahima Bah: Migrant boat pilot loses bid to appeal sentence

An asylum seeker who piloted a boat in the English Channel where four passengers drowned has not been successful in a bid to bring a challenge against his convictions and sentence.

Ibrahima Bah was convicted of manslaughter and of facilitating a breach of UK immigration law and sentenced to nine and a half years’ detention in February, after steering the dinghy in an attempted crossing in December 2022.

During a retrial at Canterbury Crown Court, Bah said smugglers threatened to kill him if he did not drive the boat, but the prosecution said he was not telling the truth.

At the Court of Appeal earlier, Bah did not get the green light to bring his challenge.