Seven people smugglers jailed for 93 years for Essex lorry deaths
39 Vietnamese migrants died as they trailer they were in was shipped from Belgium to Purfleet docks
Last updated 22nd Jan 2021
Seven people-smugglers have been sentenced to a combined 92 years and 10 months in prison following the deaths of 39 people found in the back of a refrigerated truck in October 2019.
The men, woman, and children as young as 15, died when they suffocated in sweltering tempretures.
The court heard the bodies of the victims were discovered by lorry driver Maurice Robinson when he parked up in Eastern Avenue, Grays, to give the migrants some air, only to find they were not breathing.
He denied any knowledge of people being in the trailer, but was arrested at the scene and charged several days later.
The 26-year-old, from Laurel Drive in Craigavon, Northern Ireland, later pleaded guilty to 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and acquiring criminal property.
He was sentenced to 13 years and four months in prison.
41-year-old Ronan Hughes was the leader of the operation, and was jailed to a totals of 20 years after pleading guilty to all charges against him.
Gheorghe Nica, of Mimosa Close in Langdon Hills, worked alongside Hughes as ringleader of the group, arranging the collection of migrants in France and transportation to the UK.
He was handed a 27 year jail term for 39 counts of manslaughter and one count of conspiracy to assist illegal immigrations.
Convicted for the same offences was lorry driver Eamonn Harrison, who picked up migrants at designated drop-off points in France and Belgium.
The 24-year-old, of Mayobridge in Northern Ireland, was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Another lorry driveer, 24-year-old Christopher Kennedy, of Corkley Road in Darkley, County Armagh, was jailed for seven years for conspiracy to assist illegal immigration and transporting 11 migrants prior to the wider conspiracy.
28-year-old Alexandru Hanga, of Hobart Road in Tilbury, was sentenced to three years for conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.
Finally, 42-year-old Gazmir Nuzi, of Barclay Road in Tottenham, was sentenced on 11th January to 10 months in prison was transporting two men who had been smuggled into the UK by the group, which he had already served.
Chief Constable of Essex Police, Ben-Julian Harrington, said: “On 23 October 2019 we were called to a scene that no officer could ever have prepared for. I know the officers who attended that morning will never forget what they saw in that trailer.
“Every person in that trailer had left behind a family. They had been promised safe passage to our shores and they were lied to. They were left to die, all because of the greed of the men who have been sentenced today.
“Their families, most of them thousands of miles away, have had their heartbreak played out for the world to see. They’ve kept their dignity, and they put their trust in us to deliver justice. I promised them that we would, and my teams have done just that."