IRISHMAN TO BE EXTRADITED OVER MIGRANT TRUCK DEATHS

DUBLIN An Irish court on Friday approved the extradition of Ronan Hughes to face manslaughter charges in Britain over the deaths of 39 Vietnamese people found in the back of a truck near London last year.

British authorities are also seeking Hughes, pictured, on charges of immigration offences.

Northern Irish truck driver Maurice Robinson pleaded guilty to 39 counts of manslaughter related to the deaths in March.

The victims, 31 men and boys and eight women whose ages ranged from 15 to 44, were discovered in October in a container at the back of a truck driven by Robinson to an industrial estate in Grays in Essex, about 30 km east of London.

Ireland’s High Court heard that U.K. authorities allege that Hughes, 40, organized the drivers and travel.

Judge Paul Burns found that the alleged offences occurred in the United Kingdom and it had jurisdiction to prosecute them.