Jury discharged in migrant boat deaths trial where four drowned in English Channel

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Ibrahima Bah, sketched at a previous hearing, had been on a trial for three weeks at Canterbury Crown Court. Credit: Elizabeth Cook

The jury in the trial of a man charged with manslaughter after four people died whilst attempting to cross the English Channel in a small migrant boat, has been discharged.

Ibrahima Bah, of no fixed address, was charged with four counts of manslaughter and one count of piloting to facilitate illegal entry into the UK.

He denies the charges. 

A multi-agency search and rescue operation was launched off the Kent coast on 14 December 2022, involving the Royal Navy, French Navy, Coastguard, RNLI lifeboats, ambulance service and police.

39 people were brought to shore, but four other people were pronounced dead.

The jury at Canterbury Crown Court was discharged on Wednesday afternoon (26 July), but it cannot be reported why.

A new trial date has been set (January 15 2024) and is expected to last four to five weeks.

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