Gripping new BBC documentary follows Essex lorry deaths investigation
Take a closer look at the story that rocked the world two years ago
Last updated 7th Oct 2021
What started with a chilling 999 call from a local lorry driver in Essex, ended in a hunt for those responsible for the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants.
The two ringleaders of the people-smuggling gang responsible for the deaths of 39 Vietnamese people, Ronan Hughes and Gheorghe Nica, received prison sentences of 27 and 20 years.
Mo Robinson, 26, the lorry driver involved from Co Armagh, was paid £25,000 in cash to pick up the container. He had been instructed to open the lorry trailer to give the migrants air shortly after collecting it from Purfleet docks.
When he opened the doors, he found they were all dead. He waited 20 minutes before calling emergency services. Last year Robinson pleaded guilty to manslaughter and people-smuggling, he was sentenced to 13 years and four months.
An all new BBC Two documentary following the investigation, Hunting the Essex Lorry Killers, will air on Wednesday at 9pm.
Spanning Britain, Europe and Vietnam, this unique feature shows how detectives cracked open a multimillion-pound international smuggling ring with its roots in a seemingly innocuous haulage business in the heart of Northern Ireland.
With exclusive access to Essex Police, their officers and the evidence, the documentary reveals how detectives painstakingly pieced together a complex web of evidence, including the extraordinary role of a witness known only as 'Witness X', whose evidence helped bring down the gang.
The team travelled to Vietnam, to meet the families of some of those who died in the back of the lorry, hearing their heartbreaking stories of losing loved ones on the false promise of a new life in the UK.
DCI Daniel Stoten of the Essex Police, who led the investigation said it had been the "largest investigation in our force’s history."
Hunting The Essex Lorry Killers airs Wednesday, October 13 at 9pm on BBC2. It will be available on BBC iPlayer also.
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