Essex lorry deaths: People smuggling gang jailed for killing 39 Vietnamese migrants

The victims died when they ran out of air in sweltering temperatures as the trailer was shipped from Belgium to Purfleet docks.

The 39 people whose bodies were discovered in a lorry in Grays, Essex, in October 2019. Pic: Essex Police
Image: The 39 people whose bodies were discovered in a lorry in Grays, Essex, in October 2019. Pic: Essex Police
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The main members of a people smuggling gang have been given long jail sentences after 39 Vietnamese illegal immigrants suffocated in the back of their lorry.

Defence lawyers had argued that none of the smugglers had known there were so many men, women and children crammed into the sealed trailer.

The victims died when they ran out of air in temperatures of up to 38.5C (101F), as the trailer was shipped from Belgium to Purfleet docks, Essex, in October 2019.

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Victims treated as a 'commodity'

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Essex lorry deaths: What happened?

Two of the gang had admitted 39 manslaughter charges, while two more had been convicted of the same crimes after a 10-week trial late last year.

Haulier Ronan Hughes, 41, from Ireland, was a ringleader who supplied lorries and drivers over 18 months and was paid £3,000 for each migrant who arrived safely.

He admitted manslaughter and people smuggling and was jailed for 20 years.

Lorry driver Maurice Robinson is seen leaving Purfleet port in Essex after collecting the trailer containing the migrants
Image: Maurice Robinson discovered the bodies, but it took him 23 minutes to call for an ambulance
Ronan Hughes has pleaded guilty to 39 counts of manslaughter
Image: Haulier Ronan Hughes, 41, was a ringleader who supplied lorries and drivers

His lawyer said he usually smuggled 25 migrants in one operation and did not know there were 39 in the doomed trailer until it was too late to save them.

More on Essex Lorry Deaths

He had sent lorry driver Maurice Robinson, who collected the trailer at Purfleet, a Snapchat message reading: "Give them air quickly, don't let them out."

Robinson, 26, said he thought there were no more than 20 inside.

He opened the doors and discovered the bodies, but it took him 23 minutes to call for an ambulance.

The driver's lawyer said he was "criminally unsophisticated" and did not appreciate the risks involved.

Robinson, from Northern Ireland, had admitted manslaughter and people smuggling. He was jailed for 13 years and four months.

Eamonn Harrison has denied killing the 39 migrants
Image: Eamonn Harrison was convicted of 39 counts of manslaughter
Gheorghe Nica pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of the migrants
Image: Gheorghe Nica was also found guilty of the manslaughter of the migrants

Another lorry driver, Eamonn Harrison, 24, had picked up the migrants in northern France and driven them to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, where he delivered the trailer for the ferry ride to Essex.

He had denied manslaughter and people smuggling and claimed during his Old Bailey trial that he thought he was smuggling stolen lorry parts.

He claimed he was told to park up and hide when the migrants were loaded into his trailer and had no idea how many were on board.

A message sent from Ronan Hughes to Maurice Robinson said: 'Give them air quickly don't let them out'
Image: Ronan Hughes sent a message to Maurice Robinson on Snapchat

His lawyer described him as "a somewhat inadequate young man" who had followed orders and would bear responsibility for the rest of his life.

Harrison, from Northern Ireland, was convicted of manslaughter and people smuggling and jailed for 18 years.

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Moment lorry driver found dead migrants

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police arrive at lorry filled with bodies

Gheorghe Nica, 43, had supplied cars and drivers to transfer migrants from the lorries to a safe house in south London.

He had denied manslaughter, but admitted being involved in previous smuggling operations and was jailed for 27 years.

The perilous journey that left 39 dead
The perilous journey that left 39 dead

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Nica's lawyer said he did not know how many migrants were in the trailer and suggested haulier Ronan Hughes was more of a ringleader than he was.

Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay told the judge at an earlier hearing that both Hughes and Nica were leading figures in the smuggling operation, but added: "Whether or not the full picture will ever be known - was it a strictly hierarchical organisation with people based in different countries, or was it different organised criminals working in a chain? - is not clear."

Three others connected to the crime - lorry driver Christopher Kennedy, 24, from County Armagh, Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, 28, from Essex, and Valentin Calota, 38, from Birmingham - were jailed for seven years, three years, and four-and-a-half years respectively.

Christopher Kennedy was jailed for seven years
Image: Christopher Kennedy was jailed for seven years
Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga was jailed for three years
Image: Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga was jailed for three years

In total, seven men were sentenced to more than 92 years in prison.

Judge Mr Justice Sweeney said the migrants died "what must have been an excruciatingly painful death" after the temperature in the container approached 40 degrees Celsius (104F) while it was at sea.

He told the Old Bailey he had "no doubt" the "conspiracy was a sophisticated, long-running, and profitable one to smuggle mainly Vietnamese migrants across the channel".

The judge added that the operation "amounted to professional, organised crime, largely using unregistered phones, committed for a profit motive, which significantly undermined the United Kingdom's attempts to regulate and control immigration".

Valentin Calota was jailed for four-and-a-half years
Image: Valentin Calota was jailed for four-and-a-half years

Ben-Julian Harrington, chief constable of Essex Police, said it had been the biggest investigation in the force's history.

"Every person in that trailer had left behind a family," Mr Harrington said. "They had been promised safe passage to our shores and they were lied to. They were left to die, all because of the greed of the men who have been sentenced today."

He added that the families had "put their trust in us to deliver justice".

"I promised them that we would, and my teams have done just that," Mr Harrington said.