The deaths have been a wake-up call for police. The county marks the two-year anniversary of one of the worst tragedies it's ever seen, Get the latest on all the biggest court and crime news in Essex direct from our expert court reporter. I cannot take care of you. Robinson, of Craigavon, County Armagh, returned to his cab before driving off and making his first call to Hughes. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. A teenager's body was among the 39 discovered in the HGV at around 1.40am. When Robinson discovered the bodies, there was a series of telephone conversations between him and Nica and Hughes, of Tyholland, County Monaghan, Ireland, before the driver eventually dialled 999. Signing up to the newsletter is simple. Ms Andrews described ringing police again after seeing the news of the 39 deaths on social media. "It was a bit of a shock but we're not 100 per cent sure of what's happened.". Parents of one of the youngest victims, Nguyen Huy Hung, who was 15 when he died, paid tribute to their peaceful and smart son. [19][20], Initially the police said the deceased were all Chinese nationals and the Chinese embassy in London sent officials to assist with identification. That call between Robinson and Hughes then triggered a flurry of further communications between other men involved in the trafficking operation. [1][2] The refrigerated trailer was leased on 15 October from a rental company in County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. Belgian officials said the eight women . [87], Channel 4 postponed a television series called Smuggled that was due to air on 28 October, in which British citizens try to smuggle themselves from mainland Europe to the UK. Numbers of Vietnamese people reported as potential human trafficking victims in the past three years. [76], On 21 December 2020, verdicts were returned on Romanian ringleader Gheorghe Nica of Basildon and lorry driver Eamonn Harrison from County Down. Tiep's mother, Hoang Thi Ai, told the BBC why they had changed their minds. VideoChess gets a risqu makeover, The Nigerian influencers paid to manipulate your vote, How a baffling census delay is hurting Indians, How Mafia boss was caught at a clinic after 30 years. While the county came to terms with the tragedy on our doorstep, Essex Police launched the largest investigation in its history to bring down members of the international smuggling operation responsible for their deaths. Investigations are being led by Essex Police, and involve the national authorities of the UK, Belgium, Ireland and Vietnam. One of them was Gheorghe Nica. Lorry driver Maurice Robinson and haulage boss Ronan Hughes had previously admitted the manslaughter of the migrants. One man spoke with ragged breaths to his family, saying: I cant breathe. [60] In March 2021, the man appeared in court again accused by Belgian authorities of being a member of a criminal organisation, being involved in human trafficking and using forged documents. [59] Authorities said a series of simultaneous early morning raids had taken place in both countries on 25 May 2020. A similar run was stopped at the mouth of the Eurotunnel at Coquelles in France on 14 October, when 20 Vietnamese migrants were discovered. "On that boat in the night, there was no-one to hear them and no-one to help them. The man is accused of "conspiring to smuggle non-EU nationals into the UK, contrary to immigration law, between 1 May 2018 and 24 October 2019. he 39 people found dead in a refrigerated lorry were already trapped when they arrived at the Belgian coast en route to England, local officials have said. "I am receiving regular updates from the Home Office & will work closely with Essex Police as we establish exactly what has happened. [69] Counsel for the Minister for Justice, Ronan Kennedy SC disagreed, calling the claim of extraterritoriality a red herring and that the court should not engage in a "fanciful debate" as to whether other states had jurisdiction to try these offences. [65], On 25 November 2019, Maurice Robinson pleaded guilty in the Central Criminal Court to conspiring with others to assist illegal immigration and acquiring criminal property. "We are in the process of identifying the victims, however I anticipate that this could be a lengthy process. When Witness X finally arrived in the UK, he and the other migrants were met by a fleet of black cars at Orsett Farm, in Orsett, Essex. The journey of 23 October and the earlier failed run on 14 October were connected, said Bill Emlyn Jones, who prosecuted the case. Speaking previously, Chief Superintendent Andrew Mariner, of Essex Police, said: "This is a tragic incident where a large number of people have lost their lives. [89], In October 2021, the BBC broadcast the hour-long documentary Hunting the Essex Lorry Killers. He was accused of "conspiracy to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law by a non-EU person". The bodies of 39 migrants found dead in a lorry trailer in Essex were so closely packed together the first policeman on the scene could not check them all for signs of life, a court has heard. The judge said Nica "recruited and paid the drivers whose job it was to collect the migrants when they reached the drop-off site in this country and to drive them to the safe house(s) where they were to be held until payment". [88] The first part was broadcast on 4 November after re-editing in the light of the 39 deaths, despite the Home Office describing the timing as "both insensitive and irresponsible". All of the others convicted were Vietnamese or Belgians of Vietnamese origin and were accused of buying supplies for the migrants, transporting them in taxis or acting as look-outs at safe houses. Twelve days before 39 Vietnamese people were found dead in the container, Marie Andrews was at her mobile home in Orsett, a village about four miles (6km) from Grays. [55] He faced 39 charges of manslaughter as well as immigration offences. "We believe the lorry is from Bulgaria and entered the country at Holyhead on Saturday 19 October and we are working closely with our partners to investigate. Investigations revealed that they suffocated to death in 38 degrees in the refrigerated container, where all the oxygen was sucked out. "Maybe going to die in the container, can't breathe any more dear," read a text message typed by Pham Thi Ngoc Oanh. His loss is so sudden for us. "It's hard to say whether that would change the outcome but we have changed nationally the way that we deal with organised immigration crimes.". [41], On 26 October, the Irish police said they had detained a man in his 20s at Dublin Port who was of interest to Essex Police as part of its investigation into the lorry deaths. The stories of the 39 show their journeys from Vietnam were often done in stages. My thoughts are with all those who lost their lives & their loved ones.". These are the first photographs of the lorry where 39 bodies were discovered today. [100] The deputy chair of the Can Lc District, had reportedly been told by officials that the Vietnamese government offered to only pay the costs of bringing the bodies "home from the airport" and would pay in advance on behalf of the families only if the families would later pay them back. Valentin Calota, 38, a pickup driver from Romania, who collected migrants from the lorry drop-off spot in Essex and drove them to London during an earlier consignment, was sentenced to four and a half years. [28], On 29 October, Essex Police announced that two brothers from Armagh, Northern Ireland, one of whom owned the haulage company operating the lorry cab detained at Grays, were wanted on suspicion of manslaughter and human trafficking offences related to the incident. [101], An international fundraiser through GoFundMe raised money to help cover the potential additional debts that the families might incur bringing home the deceased. The father of Nguyen Huy Tung, one of two 15-year-olds in the container, later learned of his son's death via social media. [80], Three other men were sentenced for conspiring to facilitate unlawful immigration: lorry driver Christopher Kennedy was sentenced to seven years, pickup driver Valentin Calota was sentenced to four and a half years and Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga was sentenced to three years. Thwarted in France, he said, the smugglers were possibly attempting to "do two loads in one". On 23 November, it was reported that one of the teenagers later found dead had gone missing from an asylum centre in the Netherlands. The ship left Zeebrugge in the middle of the afternoon, bound for the port of Purfleet-on-Thames, in Essex. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. [71][72] Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, of Tilbury, and Gazmir Nuzi, of Tottenham, also pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration in June and September 2020 respectively. Nica flew out of the country the next day. On all three runs, Nica, of Basildon, Essex, had arranged cars and a van to transport the migrants at the UK end. Robinson had driven from Holyhead, a major Irish Sea port in north-west Wales, to collect the trailer. They were both 35. ", Justice Sweeney added: "The willingness of the victims to try and enter the country illegally provides no excuse for what happened to them.". 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His boss, Hughes, had messaged him: "Give them air quickly don't let them out.". Some of the victims reassured their anxious families that they had paid extra for a so-called VIP journey to the UK which meant the lorry driver was helping them to cross the border, and there was no need for them to break into vehicles and stow themselves away. Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Read about our approach to external linking. [8] Belgian officials said the people were trapped in the trailer for at least 10 hours. Many travelled to other countries in Europe, such as Poland and Russia, before being drawn by the prospect of finding better-paid work in the UK, a lure that saw them move west to France or Belgium before crossing the North Sea. We contacted them and they told us how to go about it. They're not breathing.". [69] Judge Burns remanded the accused until 12 June 2020, when Ireland's High Court ordered his extradition to the UK. Three others members of the people-smuggling gang were also sentenced for conspiracy to facilitate unlawful immigration. The driver of the trailer spoke only to hurry them along, Witness X told the court. The lorry cab, a Scania R-series, was registered in Bulgaria in 2017 in the name of a company owned by an Irish citizen, but had not returned there since, according to the Bulgarian foreign ministry. It was a discovery that would hurl Essex into the international spotlight as police, press and forensics descended on the industrial estate that had become the scene of a devastating mass grave. His barrister said Robinson, who admitted manslaughter, being part of the trafficking plot and money laundering, was "horrified by what he saw". ", Get email updates with the day's biggest stories. "I immediately recognised this cab and trailer on the news as certainly being the same one that I had seen on both 11 October and 18 October, 2019," she said. [35][39] He appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on 28 October, when the Crown Prosecution Service alleged that he was part of a "global ring" of people smugglers. Essex lorry deaths: Men jailed for killing 39 migrants in trailer 22 January 2021 Essex lorry deaths The 39 people who died in the back of a trailer as it crossed the North Sea. [21] The family of a 26-year-old Vietnamese woman made public her last text message to her parents which she sent as she was dying;[22] her family said they paid around 30,000 to smuggle their daughter from Vietnam to the UK. [44] On 20 April 2020, one of the brothers, a 40-year-old man, was arrested by Garda in the Republic of Ireland on a European Arrest Warrant and charged with 39 counts of manslaughter and immigration offences. A 25-year-old Vietnamese woman is believed to be among the dead after her family received a haunting series of text messages. [31][32], Taoiseach Leo Varadkar spoke in Dil ireann and said that Irish authorities would investigate any involvement regarding their country. She said: "We worked on the land and it was hard. He was charged with 41 offences, including 39 of manslaughter, and extradition proceedings began in the Irish High Court. Hughes, of County Monaghan, Ireland, and Robinson, who took the initial 999 call had previously admitted manslaughter. His co-conspirator Gheorghe Nica, 43, a Romanian lorry mechanic who helped coordinate the transport of the migrants, and who was found guilty last year of manslaughter and people-smuggling, was sentenced by Mr Justice Sweeney to 27 years in prison. Many of the 28 men, eight women and three boys found dead in the trailer were in Paris the day before their deaths. The families of the victims who lost their lives continue to mourn their losses, with many still struggling with the debts of the money they spent in search of a better life. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Maurice Robinson, of Laurel Drive in Craigavon, Nothern Ireland, was arrested on suspicion of murder shortly after the bodies were found at the Waterglade Industrial Estate. [16][17] There have been a number of incidents in which migrants to Europe died or were injured as a result of dangerous transportation methods. "They loaded too many people into a single trailer the people smugglers were under pressure to double up. Eamonn Harrison, who delivered the trailer to Zeebrugge was sentenced to 18 years. Alongside the crucial testimony - giving a voice to the 39 - Essex Police was able to extradite Ronan Hughes back to the UK from Ireland. The message said: "Give them air quickly don't let them out". We choose the most important stories of the day to include in the newsletter, including crime, court news, long reads, traffic and travel, food and drink articles and more. Every person in that trailer had left behind a family. ", Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. In addition, Valentin Calota from Birmingham and Christopher Kennedy, from County Armagh, were found guilty of immigration offences. The red and white lorry is pictured at Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, Essex, surrounded by forensic teams. [69][70], On 28 August 2020 Ronan Hughes, from County Armagh, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 39 people found in the trailer. The court heard Robinson - who discovered the bodies after collecting the trailer when it arrived in Purfleet, Essex - had received a message from Hughes which read: "Give them air quickly, don't let them out.". Mr Justice Sweeney said that in the conspiracy "two played leading roles, namely - in order of importance - Hughes and Nica". During the voyage, the temperature rose from the high 20s all the way up to 38.5C (101F), by which point the air was too toxic for human life. "There is no VIP service - these are the lies people are told to be exploited," he said. [9] It arrived in Purfleet, a town with a port on the Thames, at around 00:30 on 23 October and was picked up with the cab there about half-an-hour later. [48], On 9 February 2020, a man was arrested in Northern Ireland on suspicion of manslaughter and facilitating unlawful immigration, and was released on bail. Both men had made it as far as France - Tiep, via Russia, in 2017, and his older cousin a year later. He was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder. The trial examined three smuggling attempts by the gang - two that were successful on 11 and 18 October, and the final trip on 23 October. PC Jack Emerson was one of the first at the scene. [51] On 16 March 2020, a man from Birmingham was charged with an immigration offence related to the incident. The chief constable of Essex police, Ben-Julian Harrington, said this was the biggest operation in his forces history. "We wouldn't transport animals in that way.". The first responders who arrived at the lorry were met by the devastating and traumatic sight of the bodies of the men and women lying dead in the back. Open up, open up., Another father, Nguyen Tho Tuan, recorded a spoken message for his own family saying: "I am sorry. The victims died from suffocation and hyperthermia in the confined space of the truck, which arrived on a ferry from Zeebrugge, Belgium. [1][4], The lorry cab and the trailer arrived separately in Purfleet, Essex, from where they travelled together the short distance to Grays. They had been working legally as fruit pickers in Hungary when they phoned their families in Vietnam to tell them there had been a change in plan and they would soon be travelling to the UK. [98] After confirmation that they were all from Vietnam, the Vietnamese government strongly condemned human trafficking and called on all countries to combat such activities to prevent a recurrence of the incident.
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essex lorry deaths crime scene photos