Driver admits deaths of 39 lorry migrants

A PEOPLE-SMUGGLER has admitted killing 39 migrants who were found dead in the back of a refrigerated truck.

The bodies of the Vietnamese nationals were discovered by emergency services in Grays, Essex, after a container arrived on a ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium on October 23 last year.

An Essex Police investigation into an alleged people-smuggling ring linked to the deaths led to charges against five men, including lorry driver Maurice Robinson.

During a virtual hearing at the Old Bailey, 25-year-old Robinson admitted 39 counts of manslaughter on or before October 24 last year.

Robinson, of Craigavon in Northern Ireland, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration of non-European Union citizens between May 1 2018 and October 24 2019. He admitted acquiring criminal property, but denied a charge of transferring criminal property.

Robinson appeared by videolink from custody alongside four co-defendants yesterday. He was charged with Gheorghe Nica, 43, of Mimosa Close in Langdon Hills, who denied 39 counts of manslaughter. Nica also denied one count of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration. Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, 27, of Tilbury, denied a charge of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.

Christopher Kennedy, 23, of Co Armagh, Northern Ireland, has denied conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration. Valentin Calota, 37, of Birmingham, was not asked to enter a plea to the charge of conspiring to assist unlawful immigration.

The four face trial in October.