They had all paid huge sums of money to reach Britain in search of a better life - paying up to 13,000 each. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk, Lorry container 'became a tomb' for 39 victims, Essex lorry deaths driver admits manslaughter. He loved football very much and he loved UK teams as well as the Champions League. [5][6][7][8] The trailer was loaded onto the freight ferry Clementine in Zeebrugge in Belgium. "[64], in July 2022, Essex Police released an image of a man who is wanted in connection with the deaths. [79], On 22 January 2021 the culprits were jailed for the incident. [61] On 14 April 2021 he pleaded not guilty and is due to stand trial in 2023. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. (From left) Gheorghe Nica and Ronan Hughes were jailed for a total of 47 years, while Eamonn Harrison was sentenced to 18 years. At 00:30 GMT on 23 October, 2019, the MV Clementine docked at Purfleet-on-Thames. 2023 BBC. He pleaded guilty last year to 39 counts of manslaughter and conspiring to bring people into the country unlawfully. Each passenger paid smugglers between 10,000 and 13,000 to be brought from northern France. It was a discovery that would hurl Essex into the international spotlight as police, press and forensics descended on the industrial estate that had become the scene of a devastating mass grave. Smugglers often force migrants to work off the cost of the trip in slave-like conditions. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. He was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder. He waited 20 minutes before calling emergency services. His father, Hoang Van Lanh, believed his son was tricked, possibly at the last moment. In an incident in Dover in June 2000, 58 Chinese nationals died in similar circumstances. They're not breathing.". What happened in the Ukraine helicopter crash? [48], On 4 March 2020, a man from Essex was charged with an immigration offence related to the deaths. He always dreamed of going to the UK and he tried very hard to study at school as well as learning English for that purpose. [43] Two days later, the prosecutor said that the lorry driver pretended that the trailer was filled with cookies and biscuits. This was when the victims were still believed to be of Chinese origin. He had wanted to give his wife and three children a better life. The trailer's jammed. ", Video evidence showed how the trainer containing 39 Vietnamese migrants made its way to the UK. Signing up to the newsletter is simple. The two ringleaders of the people-smuggling gang responsible for the deaths of 39 Vietnamese people who suffocated in a sealed refrigeration container as they were transported across the Channel from France have received prison sentences of 27 and 20 years. Det Ch Insp Daniel Stoten said: "May this serve as a warning to those who think it's OK to prey on the vulnerabilities of migrants and their families, transporting them in a way worse than we would transport animals. [14] The investigation was the "largest mass fatality victim identification" investigation in the history of Essex Police. 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An international criminal investigation into a major people-smuggling operation was set to begin. They are believed to have been either victims of human trafficking (for example, as forced labourers), migrants who paid smugglers to move them to the United Kingdom, or both. On 23 October 2019, the bodies of 39 Vietnamese people 31 men and 8 women were found in the trailer of an articulated refrigerator lorry in Grays, Essex, United Kingdom. [88] The first part was broadcast on 4 November after re-editing in the light of the 39 deaths, despite the Home Office describing the timing as "both insensitive and irresponsible". [92][93] The question was then further criticised by Chinese media after the victims were found not to be Chinese. Maurice Robinson, 26, was given 13 years and four months, having collected the trailer and opened it in an industrial estate to find the migrants dead. Our enquiries are ongoing to establish what has happened. Families were worried they could still be left in debt, despite over 84,000 having been raised to help them. A port worker who drove the trailer off the ship later reported noticing a pungent smell that was "similar to waste". He added at the top of the conspiracy was a Vietnamese man called "Fong", who was based in London. Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Stoten, who led the investigation, described how one single fingerprint found in another one of Hughes' lorries was "gold dust", leading to another man who made the same journey a week before. Nica claimed he told Robinson not to move the trailer and to call 999. The county marks the two-year anniversary of one of the worst tragedies it's ever seen, Get the latest on all the biggest court and crime news in Essex direct from our expert court reporter. VideoChess gets a risqu makeover, The Nigerian influencers paid to manipulate your vote, How a baffling census delay is hurting Indians, How Mafia boss was caught at a clinic after 30 years. A 25-year-old lorry driver from Northern Ireland has been arrested, Essex Police says. [45], On 1 November, a man from Northern Ireland was re-arrested in the holding cells of the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin following the execution of a European Arrest Warrant issued in the UK. She said: "We worked on the land and it was hard. The stories of the 39 show their journeys from Vietnam were often done in stages. The friend put him in touch with a Vietnamese mystery man called Phong. [4][14] The lorry driver was a 25-year-old man from Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Thwarted in France, he said, the smugglers were possibly attempting to "do two loads in one". The deaths have been a wake-up call for police. Four people received a custodial sentence of at least 13 years. Chilling records of his call revealed his unnervingly calm revelation of the dead bodies to the ambulance service. [82], UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a tweet that he was "appalled" at the incident, giving his thoughts to the victims and their families, adding that the Home Office was working alongside Essex Police on the case. I am sorry. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. "I am receiving regular updates from the Home Office & will work closely with Essex Police as we establish exactly what has happened. Nguyen Van Hung's mother, Pham Thi Lan, agreed. On 23 October 2019 we were called to a scene that no officer could ever have prepared for. [7][10][11], The Zeebrugge port chairman said it was "highly unlikely" the migrants entered the trailer there, and that breaking the seal, loading 39 people and resealing the trailer without being noticed would be "virtually impossible". Both were found guilty of manslaughter and conspiracy to transport and assist illegal migrants. It came to light that the 31 men and eight women - including a 15-year-old child - had died in sweltering temperatures in the lorry's sealed container as they were shipped from Zeebrugge to Purfleet. [67], On 15 May 2020 Ronan Hughes, the man accused of being a ringleader, attended the High Court in Ireland by video link from Cloverhill Prison in Dublin. On Monday . Speaking previously, Chief Superintendent Andrew Mariner, of Essex Police, said: "This is a tragic incident where a large number of people have lost their lives. [42] A Belgian public prosecutor said that this was the lorry driver they had been searching for, who had been seen on CCTV ten times at Zeebrugge while dropping off the refrigerated trailer. Essex lorry deaths: Men jailed for killing 39 migrants in trailer 22 January 2021 Essex lorry deaths The 39 people who died in the back of a trailer as it crossed the North Sea between. [80], Three other men were sentenced for conspiring to facilitate unlawful immigration: lorry driver Christopher Kennedy was sentenced to seven years, pickup driver Valentin Calota was sentenced to four and a half years and Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga was sentenced to three years. 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