Two men jailed after trying to smuggle four people, including a pregnant mother and her six-year-old child, were filmed by one of their illegal passengers crossing the Channel.

But the five-foot fishing "inshore day" boat, Little Bit Bait, broke down off the Ramsgate coast and the skipper had to send out an SOS.

The court heard how an RNLI vessel then towed the vessels into Ramsgate Harbour.

It was then that that Border Force officers became suspicious and spotted one of the illegal migrants.

Prosecutor John Livingston said the boat had brought four Iraqi nationals illegally into the UK from Belgium.

He added skipper Bradley Turner and John Sheppard were planning to land somewhere they wouldn't have been seen.

However on the journey the engine stopped and Turner was forced to send out a Mayday signal for help.

A third man - who had travelled to Dunkirk with the two - was freed earlier this week when the CPS dropped a conspiracy charge.

Turner, 38, of Central Walk Road, Canvey Island and Sheppard, 67, Radwinter Road, Saffron Walden, were both jailed for four years and six months each at Canterbury Crown Court today.

A police marine expert said the boat was not fit to make the 28 nautical mile trip from Dover to Dunkirk and had no navigation and little safety equipment.

Mr Livingston added: "This vessel was thoroughly unseaworthy and had put at risk the lives of those onboard."

But defence barrister Dominic Webber disputed the claim saying it had all the necessary equipment and that Turner was an experienced sailor.

The court heard that Turner had been borrowing £10,000 to "do up the boat" in advance of August’s trip.

He promised a friend he was about to inherit £15000 and would repay the debt when he received the money.

Mr Webber said that father-of-seven Turner, claimed he had been in debt and threats had been made against his family.

He said the boat was bought by the excavator for £600 in May 2017 and needed extensive refurbishment.

Ian Foinette, for Sheppard said: "He was recruited for this commercial venture which was ineptly organised and it was inevitable that someone was going to spot what they were doing,"

Judge Simon James told them: "Any offence of this sort is serious, not simply because you were seeking to profit from the desperation of others but because in a climate when there appear many intent on trying to undermine our way of life, any attempt to circumvent border controls has a capacity to undermine the nation's security.

"You exploited the vulnerability of others, transporting these people, including a heavily pregnant woman and a child on a vessel ill-equipped to make the perilous crossing of one of the buisiest shipping lanes in the world, placed them and others in considerable danger."