Six sentenced for manslaughter over 2021 Channel disaster

A Paris court convicted six men of manslaughter on Wednesday, 30 September, over a Channel crossing disaster in 2021. The four Iraqis and two Afghans received prison sentences of six to ten years. Seven other defendants were convicted of lesser smuggling offences, with sentences ranging from six months suspended to four years. One defendant was acquitted. [2] [3]

The boat left the French coast on the evening of 23 November 2021 and capsized early the next day. The Cranston Inquiry recorded 27 recovered bodies and concluded, with reasonable confidence, that four more people had been aboard whose bodies were not recovered. Two men survived. [4] [1]

Most defendants denied being smugglers and said they were themselves trying to make the crossing, AFP reported. The defendants have ten days to appeal the ruling. [2] [3]