a recent documentary into the deaths revealed. PC Jack Emerson was one of the first at the scene. After several months in Poland, he made the journey to France with his heart set on making it across the channel to the UK. [77] Sentencing hearings for all eight guilty men are expected in January 2021. It's unclear who they are or exactly how they came into the country but one of the biggest murder investigations in British history is underway. ". Robinson, of Craigavon, County Armagh, returned to his cab before driving off and making his first call to Hughes. [4] Other refugee groups have expressed concern that the border confusion surrounding Brexit will give more opportunities for groups to commit similar crimes. Germany: We are no longer reliant on Russian energy, City asks Madonna if it can borrow her painting, US porn star declared unfit for sex crimes trial, Jeremy Renner TV show poster edited after accident, Keep cake away from office, says food adviser, Maximum two drinks a week, Canada guidance advises. When Robinson stopped on a nearby industrial estate, he found that the migrants were all dead. Open up, open up., Another father, Nguyen Tho Tuan, recorded a spoken message for his own family saying: "I am sorry. Emailwebnews@trinitymirror.com. Post-mortem examinations found they died of overheating and a lack of oxygen. Who was Ukrainian minister Denys Monastyrsky? [51] On 16 March 2020, a man from Birmingham was charged with an immigration offence related to the incident. Helicopter video shows the Lorry in Essex where 39 bodies were found, Thirty-nine people, including a teenager, have been found dead inside a lorry container, Witnesses near the industrial estate described the 'awful' scene, Police are seen at the industrial estate today. [99], Families of those who died told reporters that they had been told that neither the British nor Vietnamese governments were willing to cover the cost of repatriating the bodies back to their homes. CCTV footage then placed the primary suspects together at the same hotel. Instead of immediately dialling 999 in the early hours of 23 October, 2019, the 26-year-old's first instinct was to get back in to his cab and drive off from the estate in Grays, with the bodies in the trailer behind him. [69] Counsel for the defence argued that many of the alleged offences occurred outside the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom and that the extradition warrant was unclear about whether the United Kingdom was asserting that the alleged offences occurred in UK jurisdiction or were extraterritorial. [3] Refrigerated trailers can be kept airtight and frozen to preserve perishables, which could lead to an occupant dying of suffocation or hypothermia should they become trapped inside. Sign up to the EssexLive newsletter below for the latest news straight to your inbox: If you're looking for a way to stay up-to-date with the latest breaking news from around Essex, the EssexLive newsletter is a good place to start. The victims were 28 men, eight women and three children, two of them aged 15. During the investigation, there was one crucial piece of evidence which cracked the case "wide open", a recent documentary into the deaths revealed. While Hughes admitted manslaughter, both Nica and Harrison were convicted by a jury. Two ringleaders receive sentences of 27 and 20 years after 39 Vietnamese people suffocated in container. Hughes, 41, and lorry driver Maurice Robinson, 26, had previously admitted the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese migrants who were found dead in a lorry trailer in Essex in October 2019. 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. All you have to do is to click here and type in your email address. "Maybe going to die in the container, can't breathe any more dear," read a text message typed by Pham Thi Ngoc Oanh. One of those was Nguyen Thi Hong, whose husband Bui Phan Thang died in the lorry. We've just seen what has been said online. It's awful. [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. Tiep's mother, Hoang Thi Ai, told the BBC why they had changed their minds. [97], After reports that Vietnamese citizens might be among the deceased, Nguyn Xun Phc, Vietnamese Prime Minister, ordered the country's Public Security Ministry and the authorities of its two central provinces of H Tnh and Ngh An, where a number of missing citizens come from, to launch a probe into the case. "It's hard to say whether that would change the outcome but we have changed nationally the way that we deal with organised immigration crimes.". During the lengthy court cases at the Old Bailey in London, shocking details from the tragedy were uncovered. [4][14], The ambulance service said that all 39 people were dead before it arrived, and attempts at resuscitation could not be made. Eamonn Harrison, a lorry driver from Northern Ireland, who dropped the trailer off at Zebrugge, and Gheorghe Nica, the coordinator of the smuggling operation, from Romania, were found guilty of manslaughter. [48], On 9 February 2020, a man was arrested in Northern Ireland on suspicion of manslaughter and facilitating unlawful immigration, and was released on bail. His boss, Hughes, had messaged him: "Give them air quickly don't let them out.". 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. [83][6] Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, said that she was "shocked and saddened by this utterly tragic incident", and that Immigration Enforcement were working with the Essex Police. [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". Read about our approach to external linking. I am sorry. We choose the most important stories of the day to include in the newsletter, including crime, court news, long reads, traffic and travel, food and drink articles and more. Officer Maxime Saison was on duty in France that night and told how the migrants, speaking in English, confirmed they were Vietnamese and had no documentation. "I am receiving regular updates from the Home Office & will work closely with Essex Police as we establish exactly what has happened. [91], Later, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticised a CNN reporter's question, which had contrasted the incident with the Chinese government's depiction of a more economically prosperous China. Most of the migrants are believed to have boarded the lorry container in northern France before it was driven to Zeebrugge and loaded on to a cargo ship bound for Purfleet on 22 October 2019. On 23 October 2019 we were called to a scene that no officer could ever have prepared for. Essex lorry deaths: Trafficking ringleader jailed for 15 years after 39 died from suffocation and hyperthermia Eight women and 31 men were sealed inside the vehicle for at least 12 hours as . Both men had made it as far as France - Tiep, via Russia, in 2017, and his older cousin a year later. However the involvement of the lorry drivers offered them no protection when too many people were packed into one container. They're all lying on the ground. That call between Robinson and Hughes then triggered a flurry of further communications between other men involved in the trafficking operation. THE 39 migrants who died in the back of a lorry trailer in Essex left bloody handprints on the inside doors of the metal container, it has been reported. [28] The National Crime Agency suggested that organised crime might be involved. Det Ch Insp Stoten said: "The officers who attended that - most of them were very young in service and some of them had never experienced a dead person, a deceased person, before. 2023 BBC. [60] In March 2021, the man appeared in court again accused by Belgian authorities of being a member of a criminal organisation, being involved in human trafficking and using forged documents. There they found the 39 migrants dead in the back of a refrigerated . Lorry driver Christopher Kennedy, 24, of County Armagh, and van driver Valentin Calota, 38, of Birmingham, were also convicted of being part of the people-smuggling plot. Someone said he should go to the UK. Christopher Kennedy, 24, from County Armagh, was jailed for seven years; Valentin Calota, 38, of Birmingham, for four-and-a-half years; and Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, 28, of Hobart Road, Tilbury, Essex, was given a three-year sentence. The journey of 23 October and the earlier failed run on 14 October were connected, said Bill Emlyn Jones, who prosecuted the case. The court heard some of their final desperate phone messages, including one where a man spoke with ragged breaths as he apologised to his family. Our enquiries are ongoing to establish what has happened. 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. [69] The counsel for the state pointed out that the 39 people died after the trailer had entered the UK and that it was nonsensical to suggest their deaths had occurred anywhere other than the UK. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. GPS data showed it had previously travelled to Dunkirk and Lille in France and Bruges in Belgium. ", "Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on October 25, 2019", Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, "CNN slammed for rushing to attack China in report of UK lorry death", "China says identity of victims still being confirmed", "PM orders investigation into overseas trafficking of Vietnamese citizens", "Essex lorry deaths: Vietnam condemns 'human trafficking', "Vietnam offers loans to families to return bodies", "Vietnam offers grieving families loans to return bodies", "Fundraisers help send Vietnam's lorry dead home", "Essex lorry deaths: All victims' bodies back in Vietnam", Young Vietnamese workers risking life and death on 'the line' to Europe, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Essex_lorry_deaths&oldid=1120801721, October 2019 events in the United Kingdom, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 8 November 2022, at 22:09. [80], On 21 March 2022, Dragos-Stefan Damian was jailed for three years and ten months after being found guilty of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration. Detectives believe the vehicle was travelling from Bulgaria and entered the UK three days ago via Holyhead in north Wales, one of the main port for ferries from Ireland. [56] His solicitor applied for bail and the prosecution opposed it. Both Robinson and Hughes, of Tyholland, County Monaghan, admitted 39 counts of manslaughter and conspiring to assist unlawful immigration. "The day he left it was 6th September. Every person in that trailer had left behind a family. [63], On 17 June 2021 a Vietnamese man who is being sought by Belgian authorities for extradition in connection with the deaths was arrested at a supermarket petrol station in Middlesbrough. Smugglers often force migrants to work off the cost of the trip in slave-like conditions. "We thought maybe someone had broken into a lorry, but it's just awful. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Image: Police and forensics at the crime scene in Grays, Essex, in October 2019 The victims died from suffocation and hyperthermia in the confined space of the truck, which arrived on a ferry from . [57][58], On 26 May 2020 French and Belgian police announced the arrest of 26 people suspected of human trafficking in relation to the Essex lorry deaths. One man spoke with ragged breaths to his family, saying: I cant breathe. Later, before the trailer was loaded on to a ferry, the driver had opened the doors and told them to "keep quiet all the time" and stand in the middle of the trailer and hold on to each other. Pham Thi Ngoc Oanh, 28, from Nghe An, wrote a text message that was never sent, The 39 people who died in the back of a trailer as it crossed the North Sea between Zeebrugge and the UK, Hoang Van Tiep's parents Hoang Thi Ai (left) and Hoang Van Lanh said their son had paid for a "VIP service", They are callous and they are dangerous and they are out to exploit these people. [21] The family of a 26-year-old Vietnamese woman made public her last text message to her parents which she sent as she was dying;[22] her family said they paid around 30,000 to smuggle their daughter from Vietnam to the UK. "A load of immigrants just got out of a lorry, they just got into Mercedes and all that," Ms Andrews told the 999 operator. We wouldn't transport animals in that way. [81], In January 2022, 19 people were convicted in Belgium of being part of a people smuggling ring connected to the deaths, including the ringleader Vo Van Hong who was sentenced to 15 years in prison. [69] Counsel for the Minister for Justice, Ronan Kennedy SC disagreed, calling the claim of extraterritoriality a red herring and that the court should not engage in a "fanciful debate" as to whether other states had jurisdiction to try these offences. Lorry driver Maurice Robinson, 26, of Craigavon, leaving Purfleet port, Essex, Purfleet Thames Terminal the day 39 bodies were found in a container in Grays, The lorry was discovered in Waterglade Industrial Park on Eastern Avenue in Grays, (Image: (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)), The 39 victims and their families had paid thousands to give them a better life in Britain, Court artist sketch of Gheorghe Nica (left) and Eamonn Harrison (right) two of four men to face trial, at the Old Bailey, Bui Phan Thang, 37, from Ha Tinh, one of the 39 Vietnamese migrants. The bodies of 39 migrants found dead in a lorry trailer in Essex were so closely packed together the first policeman on the scene could not check them all for signs of life, a court has heard. As they began to die inside the dark container, where the temperature had risen to 38.5C, they recorded farewell messages for their relatives. [98] He also urged his country's Foreign Ministry to direct the Vietnamese embassy in UK to closely monitor the situation, co-ordinate with the British authorities to verify the identities of the victims and take protective measures in case it was confirmed Vietnamese were among them. I want to come back to my family. [94][95][96] [102] By the end of November, all bodies had been repatriated to Vietnam. Some of the victims reassured their anxious families that they had paid extra for a so-called VIP journey to the UK which meant the lorry driver was helping them to cross the border, and there was no need for them to break into vehicles and stow themselves away. "He said he would not go in a container lorry and that it needed to be safe, even though the truck option was a lot cheaper.". The court heard Robinson - who discovered the bodies after collecting the trailer when it arrived in Purfleet, Essex - had received a message from Hughes which read: "Give them air quickly, don't let them out.". Chilling records of his call revealed his unnervingly calm revelation of the dead bodies to the ambulance service. Recordings from some of the victims' final desperate phone messages were played aloud in court. "There were desperate attempts to contact the outside world by phone and to break through the roof of the container," the judge said. Read about our approach to external linking. [16][17] There have been a number of incidents in which migrants to Europe died or were injured as a result of dangerous transportation methods. The trial focused on four people-smuggling runs by the gang in the space of just a fortnight in October 2019 which, if they had all been successful, would have brought more than 80 Vietnamese migrants into the UK and netted the organisers 800,000. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. There were days when he called ten times. This became Witness X who shared his fears and referred to the smugglers as "the mafia" - a testimony that revealed the drivers had known about their passengers. [13] The lorry was in Eastern Avenue at the Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, Essex. "And finding out at the very last minute, and realising as you die, that the VIP service was a terrible lie, is exactly what you see from these organised crime groups. Sense of injustice lingers after Seoul Halloween crush, Chess gets a risqu makeover. They leave behind two children in Vietnam. "I could visibly see numerous half-naked bodies in the back of the trailer, lying on the trailer floor motionless," he said. [24][25] By 7 November, all of the deceased had been formally identified. He was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder. [44] On 20 April 2020, one of the brothers, a 40-year-old man, was arrested by Garda in the Republic of Ireland on a European Arrest Warrant and charged with 39 counts of manslaughter and immigration offences. [18], On 11 February 2020, Essex Police said that post-mortems gave a combination of hypoxia and hyperthermia as the provisional causes of death. 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