Man arrested over 39 migrant bodies charged with drug smuggling
Court in UK hears number of charges relate to Class A narcotics and €900k cash
AN Irish haulage firm boss has been sent forward for trial in the UK after he was arrested and charged with a series of drugs offences, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Thomas Maher, who is originally from Clara, Co. Offaly, is currently in jail on remand after a Warrington police investigation resulted in him being charged with two counts of conspiracy to import class A drugs, two counts of conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm.
Mr Maher is alleged to have smuggled the illicit substances and €900,000 in cash into Ireland. The haulier first appeared before Warrington Magistrates Court on Monday, June 15, and he was back again last Monday where he was sent forward to appear before Chester Crown Court in July.
The businessman first came to police attention last October when he and his wife Joanna were arrested after 39 bodies were discovered in a lorry in Essex.
Mr Maher, who has been living in the Woolston area of Warrington, about 25km outside Manchester, was held on suspicion of manslaughter and conspiracy to traffic people in October last year in connection with the deaths of the Vietnamese nationals. The 39 migrants were found dead inside a HGV in
Grays, Essex. Ten were teenagers of which two were as young as 15.
Mr Maher’s wife Joanna was also previously arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and conspiracy to traffic people. The Mahers were taken into custody after an early morning raid on their £400,000 suburban home last October. They were released under investigation over the alleged offences.
Mrs Maher was named in documents as the owner of the Scania cab which was registered in Bulgaria and was being driven by 25year-old trucker Mo Robinson, from Craigavon, Co. Armagh, who has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in relation to the 39 deaths.
Christopher Kennedy, 23, has been charged with human trafficking offences and Ronan Hughes, 40, has also been charged with manslaughter. Both men from Armagh have pleaded not guilty.
At the time of the couple’s arrest, and subsequent release from custody without charge, the Mahers said they were horrified at the discovery of bodies on the lorry. The Mahers had told the MoS their Bulgaria-based firm, Today’s Movements Tomorrow, was sold last October to a firm in Co. Monaghan, not far from where truck driver Mr Robinson lives with his pregnant hairdresser partner.
‘I went to the British police as we were registered owners [of the cab] in Bulgaria,’ Mr Maher, who suffers from heart problems, said before his arrest.
‘I phoned them myself. They were happy we had come forward... It’s not nice to be associated with this. It’s disgusting what’s happened.’
Mr Maher is due back in Chester Crown Court on July 22.
‘It’s not nice to be associated with this’