Smugglers hear final pleas of migrants sealed in lorry
The last pleas and agonising gasps of migrants who died in a sealed container lorry have been played in court to the smugglers responsible for their deaths.
Ronan Hughes, a haulier and the gang leader, closed his eyes at the Old Bailey as phone messages from some of the 39 men, women, and children who suffocated were played.
Hughes and seven other defendants are due to be sentenced over the people-smuggling operation, which charged upwards of £13,000 (NZ$24,000) a head for a ‘‘VIP’’ service guaranteeing passage to Britain.
On October 23, 2019, the Vietnamese migrants travelling from Belgium to Purfleet in Essex died in sweltering temperatures.
One man left a message for his family. ‘‘I can’t breathe. I want to come back to my family. Have a good life.’’
In the background, a voice could be heard pleading: ‘‘Come on everyone. Open up, open up.’’
The sound of distressed people moaning and gasping as they ran out of air was evident. The victims, aged 15 to 44, had desperately tried to raise the alarm, and even used a pole to try to punch through the roof of the container. Their bodies were found scattered across the floor.
Eight men have appeared in court in Britain, including Hughes, 41, of Tyholland, Co Monaghan, and Maurice Robinson, 26, a lorry driver of Craigavon, Co Armagh. They both admitted manslaughter. Last month four men were found guilty of offences relating to the operation.
As the recordings played, Hughes sat still in the dock with his eyes shut as other defendants hung their heads.
The court was told that Robinson delayed alerting emergency services after finding the bodies while in Purfleet, Essex. But exchanged calls with Hughes and fellow ringleader Gheorghe Nica, 43, before dumping his phone.
In one conversation Robinson was told by Hughes to ‘‘Open the doors, give them air’’, according to his statement to police. Robinson responded: ‘‘I can’t, they’re f***ing dead.’’
He said he was ordered by Hughes to get rid of his phone. He threw the sim card down a drain and dropped the phone by the side of a road.
Seven smuggling trips were identified between May 2018 and October 23, 2019, but there are believed to have been more.
Jonathan Polnay, for the prosecution, said: ‘‘These defendants were party to a sophisticated, longrunning and profitable conspiracy to smuggle Vietnamese migrants to the United Kingdom, in the back of lorries, in a deliberate and intentional breach of border control.’’
The feewas £10,000-£13,000 for the so-called VIP route, when the driver knew about the smuggled migrants inside the trailer attached to his lorry.
Robinson, who admitted being part of two smuggling trips before the deaths, told police that he received £1500 per migrant he successfully smuggled, and thought that he had been paid £25,000.
Last month Nica, 43, of Basildon, Essex, and Eamonn Harrison, 24, of Mayobridge, Co Down, a lorry driver, were convicted of 39 charges of manslaughter. Christopher Kennedy, 24, of Darkley, Co Armagh, and Valentin Calota, 38, a driver from Romania, were convicted of conspiring to smuggle people into the country unlawfully.
The maximum sentence for people smuggling is 14 years in prison, with manslaughter carrying a possible life sentence. The defendants will be sentenced over three days by Mr Justice Sweeney at the Old Bailey. –