A Sudanese refugee, who is the first known person to make it through the Channel Tunnel on foot, has been freed.
Abdul Haroun, who fled war in his native Darfur region, was sentenced to nine months in jail for obstructing a railway but had already spent as long in pre-trial detention.
He was arrested emerging from the railway tunnel after walking 50km from France in near total darkness, clinging to metal brackets on the tunnel walls to dodge passing trains.
"Even if I died, there wasn't another solution," he told police.
Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel and some politicians had called for severe punishment to deter others, while supporters said as a genuine refugee he should not be prosecuted.
File picture of a general view of the Eurotunnel train tracks at the entrance of the Channel Tunnel (AAP) Source: AAP
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Haroun made global headlines at a time when the migration crisis in Europe was causing political tensions.
Haroun spent five months in prison until he was granted asylum last December and released on bail in January.
His lawyers tried to get the charge against him dropped but Judge Adele Williams rejected their arguments, leading him to change his plea to guilty.
He will appeal against his conviction.
An ethnic Zaghawa who is about 40 but does not know his exact date of birth, Haroun received no formal education as a child and cannot read or write.
He fled persecution by the Sudanese government-backed Janjaweed militia in 2004 and spent years at a camp on Sudan's border with Chad before making his way to Britain via Egypt, Libya, Italy and France.
He told police he jumped over the tunnel perimeter fence near Calais and made his way to England alone.
"It is plain that having travelled from your native Sudan, you were in a state of desperation when you decided to walk through the Channel Tunnel," Judge Williams said.
Judge Williams says she's been relatively lenient due to the circumstances but warned others they "can only expect an immediate sentence of imprisonment".
