A Palestinian man who live streamed his journey across the English Channel on social media has been jailed for attempting to enter the UK illegally.
Abu Wadei, 33, also known as Mosab Al Qasas, pleaded guilty on Monday to trying to get into the UK on March 6 without leave or valid entry clearance. He was sentenced to nine months in jail.
He broadcast footage of his dinghy being approached by a Border Force vessel on TikTok.
He was arrested by immigration enforcement officers after arriving on a small boat in Kent, south-east England, having paid smugglers €1,500 ($1,690), Canterbury Crown Court previously heard. Abu Wadei was then placed in a hotel in the Manchester area.
The court had heard Abu Wadei, who left Palestine in 2022 before making asylum claims in Greece, Germany and Belgium, had no familial or financial ties to the UK and had stayed between Calais and Dunkirk in France for about seven days before crossing the English Channel.
His arrival made national headlines after it was reported that Abu Wadei, a Palestinian from the city of Khan Younis in Gaza, had posted on social media support for Hamas – which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK – and hate-speech calling for the death of Jews.
In a picture posted on Facebook in March 2021, it is claimed Abu Wadei stared into the camera while smoking a cigarette and brandishing an assault rifle with a telescopic sight.
Abu Wadei has a large following on social media, where his TikTok videos attract up to 2.5 million views, The Mail on Sunday claimed.
He charted his journey from Gaza on the social media channel.
As part of his journey across Europe, he posted a picture of himself in Brussels on Valentine’s Day, then in central Paris earlier this month.
Abu Wadei was rearraigned via an Arabic interpreter after the charge was amended to include that he “attempted” to arrive in the UK without leave or valid entry clearance.
