LONDON: An Afghan teenager appeared in a UK court on Wednesday and denied endangering dozens of lives by piloting a small boat of migrants across the Channel from France earlier this week.

The 16-year-old pleaded “not guilty” at a magistrates’ court in southeastern Margate, and said he was “forced” to pilot the vessel across the busy waterway between Britain and France.

The court appearance came two days after he allegedly landed on UK shores following the first successful migrant small boat Channel crossing of 2026.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) — which decides whether to prosecute cases in England and Wales — said the teenager was charged under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, which only came into force two days earlier.

Prosecutors told the court that 46 people were on the boat. The teenager, who cannot be identified as a minor, is the first person to be charged using the new legislation with the crime of endangering life during a small boat crossing arriving in the UK without valid entry clearance, it noted. Anyone convicted of this offence faces up to six years behind bars.

A small number of migrants have previously been prosecuted for piloting small boats using other UK laws.

Wearing a black coat in court, the teenager followed proceedings through a Dari interpreter and spoke only to confirm his name during a short hearing. He was remanded into custody to appear at Canterbury Crown Court on February 9.

Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2026