Essex police convict the final member of people smuggling gang
Their investigation into the gang has now concluded, but work to deliver justice is not over
Essex police say their investigation into a people smuggling gang involved in the tragic deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants, found in a lorry container in Essex in October 2019 - has concluded.
The final member, Caolan Gormley, 26, from County Tyrone was sentenced to seven years in prion at the Old Bailey yesterday.
Detective Chief Inspector Louise Metcalfe from Essex Police, who led the major crime investigation, expressed satisfaction with the outcome.
"I'm really comfortable with that sentence. He's the 11th person to be charged, convicted, and sentenced."
Gormley, was involved in three smuggling attempts, two of which were successful and one failed attempt in October. Notably, he was not part of the fatal crossing on the 22nd of October.
The investigation, spanning over four years, culminated in the conviction of 11 individuals, with a total of 117 years and one month of custodial sentences. The scale of the investigation was immense, involving 1500 statements, 23,000 documents, 20 terabytes of CCTV footage, and the collaboration of 1300 staff from 22 police forces, the NCAA, military, border force, and immigration.
Detective Chief Inspector Metcalfe highlighted the complexity of the case, stating the magnitude of the tragedy, prompted an extensive and meticulous inquiry.
"Within two weeks of this investigation, we'd surpassed the work we would have done on a homicide investigation."
"From an Essex Police perspective, the investigation is complete."
But when asked about the families' of the 39 victim's response to the Essex police investigation, Detective Chief Inspector Metcalfe explained that Essex Police had visited the families in Vietnam, and the families were grateful for the support. "They'll never forget what happened, and we'll never bring their family members back, but they now have justice," she stated.
Reflecting on the lessons learned from the tragedy, Detective Chief Inspector Metcalfe acknowledged the positive aspect of the partnership approach. She expressed gratitude for the collaboration with immigration, UK Border Force, and the NCAA, stating, "We're now a lot more minded and a lot more ready to tackle these people when greed overtakes them and we see these offenses again."
"Although we're really proud of our investigation and the relationship we've developed throughout it, we truly hope no investigation of this magnitude will ever have to be repeated."
DCI Metcalfe emphasized that the proceedings related to the assets of the convicted individuals would continue, with the aim of returning the seized funds to the families in Vietnam.