Essex lorry trial jurors deliberate for a third day
The senior judge says the jurors shouldn't feel pressured by time
Last updated 17th Dec 2020
A jury in the trial of alleged people-smugglers linked to the deaths of 39 migrants have retired to deliberate for a third day.
The Vietnamese migrants, aged between 15 and 44, were found dead in the back of a trailer in Essex on October 23 last year.
They had suffocated in sweltering temperatures as the airtight container was shipped from Zeebrugge in Belgium to Purfleet in Essex.
Alleged key organiser Gheorghe Nica, 43, from Basildon, Essex, and lorry driver Eamonn Harrison, 24, from County Down, Northern Ireland, have denied 39 counts of manslaughter.
Harrison, Christopher Kennedy, 24, from County Armagh, Northern Ireland, and Valentin Calota, 38, from Birmingham, have pleaded not guilty to being part of a people-smuggling conspiracy.
Nica has admitted a limited role but denied involvement in the fatal run.
On Thursday, Mr Justice Sweeney sent the jurors out to continue their deliberations at the Old Bailey.
They were told that one of their number had been discharged due to ill health.
The senior judge reminded the remaining 11 jurors that they are under no pressure of time.
If they have not reached verdicts by the close of December 23, they will be asked to return after the Christmas break on January 4, he said.