Migrant boat ‘trafficker’ charged with manslaughter

Iranian skipper in incident in which family of five died in Channel is remanded in custody in France

THE skipper of the migrant boat on which a family of five died has become the first Channel “trafficker” to be charged with manslaughter.

The 37- year-old Iranian was remanded in custody yesterday for “aggravated” manslaughter, which carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years and 150,000 euros (£135,000) fine.

The man claimed to investigators that he was one of the migrants seeking to cross the Channel but was exposed by the other survivors on the overcrowded boat, which was packed with at least 22 people, said Sébastien Pièvre, the Dunkirk prosecutor.

Kurdish Iranians Rasoul Iran-nejad and his wife Shiva Mohammad Panahi, both 35, and their children, Anita, nine, and Armin, six, died after becoming trapped in the cabin when the boat sank. Their baby son, Artin, 15 months old, and two other migrants also on board are presumed dead.

None of the migrants on the boat are believed to have been issued with life jackets, and they set off from the beach at Grand-synthe despite warnings from other migrants that it was dangerous and the boat too flimsy to manage the 6ft waves whipped up by gusts of 24 knots.

Farhad Shekari, 28, from Sardasht, the same town as Rasoul and his wife, told The Telegraph: “The middle man was forcing people to get on the boat. He was saying: ‘Go, go, go.’” Mr Pièvre said: “The [suspect] told us he was just a migrant trying to get to England, but our investigations suggest that his involvement in this senseless journey was greater than that. He is accused by the survivors who described him as being close to the people smugglers.” Mr Pièvre said that skippering the boat “would constitute aggravated manslaughter”.

The skipper has also been charged with criminal association, which carries a maximum 10-year jail term, aiding illegal immigration and endangering lives.

The prosecutor said the suspect was not thought to be the main organiser.

“Investigations are actively continuing to identify and arrest other members of the people-smuggling ring who may be higher in the hierarchy,” he said.

Police also questioned a restaurant worker who was escorted at gunpoint out of Hobbies, a Kurdish restaurant that has become a focus of the investigation into the migrants’ failed attempt to reach Britain.

A cousin of Mr Iran-nejad said that the family back in Iran were “devastated”. They had sold their house before leaving Iran and paid £14,000 to get on to the boat, with a further £8,200 supposed to be due when they arrived safely in the UK.

“His only hope of coming to the UK was for a better future for the children,” said his cousin.

Meanwhile, two Iranian men were yesterday each jailed for two years at Canterbury Crown Court for smuggling themselves and 29 people across the Channel into the UK on two overcrowded, rigid-hulled inflatable boats.