Hundreds jailed for coming to UK in small boats to claim asylum, says report

Study by University of Oxford says prosecutions include children and victims of trafficking and torture

Hundreds of people, including children and victims of trafficking and torture, have been convicted and jailed for arriving in the UK in small boats to claim asylum, according to a report.

The prosecutions have largely slipped under the radar, although the issue has been highlighted by the case of the Senegalese teenager Ibrahima Bah. He was sentenced to nine years and six months detention after being convicted of four counts of manslaughter and one of facilitating a breach of immigration law after steering an overcrowded dinghy that got into difficulty, leading to the drowning of at least four people.