Essex accused: I never wanted to get involved

Mechanic admits helping ex-boss in past

A MECHANIC accused over the deaths of 39 migrants has told jurors he was roped into people-smuggling and insisted: “I never wanted to be involved in this kind of job.”

Gheorghe Nica, 43, has admitted helping his former boss Ronan Hughes, 41, transport migrants from Orsett in Essex, following th eir arrival i n Britain on October 11 and 18 last year.

But he has denied having a ny th i n g to do with the d e a t h s of 3 9 Vi e t n a me s e people during a third run on October 22, 2019.

The victims, aged 15 to 44, suffocated in a sealed trailer en route from Zeebrugge in Belgium to Purfleet in Essex, the Old Bailey was told.

Jurors have heard haulier boss Hughes and 26-year-old lorry driver Maurice Robinson, who found the bodies, have admitted manslaughter.

Giving evidence in his trial, Nica said he was approached on October 16 last year by Hughes to help with transporting people.

He told jurors: “He was saying [to] me if I can arrange this time a van driver. I said, ‘What for, cigarettes?’ He said, ‘no no’. He finally told me it’s for people again.” The defendant said because Hughes had given him £5,000 he felt he owed him but added: “I never wanted to be involved in this kind of job.”

Ni c a , from Basildon i n Essex, has denied 39 counts of manslaughter along with lorry driver Eamonn Harrison, 23, of Co Down, who dropped off the trailer at Zeebrugge on October 22.

Harrison, lorry driver Christopher Kennedy, 24, of Co Armagh, and Valentin Calota, 37, from Birmingham, have denied being part of a wider people-smuggling conspiracy, which Nica has admitted to.

Alexandru Ovidiu-hanga, 28, from Essex, previously admitted being involved in people-smuggling. The trial continues.

EVIDENCE Nica