Maurice Mo Robinson, 26, was part of a million-pound people-smuggling ring
Gang brought people into Britain in back of lorries - earning him £100,000
In October 2019, Robinson opened back of his refrigerated trailer in Grays, Essex
Was met with a gush of steam and the 39 bodies of people who died on journey
Robinson admitted 39 counts of manslaughter and is now facing sentencing
Robinson called Ronan Hughes - the gang s ringleader - when he found bodies
The final moments of the victims were played at the Old Bailey on Thursday
Jurors heard Hughes charged migrants £13,000 each to get to Britain on ferries from Belgium to Purfleet, Essex, while posing as a legitimate haulier.
But 28 men, eight women and three children suffocated inside a pitch black, air-tight lorry container when the temperature hit 101F.
The court heard Hughes and Nica were driven by greed and their normal human cargo was between 15 and 20.
But they decided to “double up” after one of their shipments was tumbled by the French authorities near Calais a few days before.
Jurors were told how on the morning of October 22 last year, Harrison picked up 39 migrants from Bierne, northern France. His trailer was loaded at Zeebrugge in the afternoon.
Gang used burner pay-as-you-go phones and evaded automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras
Ringleader Gheorghe Nica, 43, and driver Eamonn Harrison, 24, found guilty of 39 counts of manslaughter
In May 9 2018, Harrison was issued with civil penalty notice after he was caught with 18 Vietnamese migrants
Total of eight men now convicted in connection with the deaths of 39 Vietnamese men, women and children
In October last year, 39 Vietnamese migrants suffocated to death inside a lorry trailer in Thurrock, Essex
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On the door inside the shipping container which became a death trap for the 39 Vietnamese migrants was shocking evidence of the last desperate moments of their final journey.
There, on the sealed exit separating them from the safety of the outside world, were the bloody handprints of victims who had banged frantically in vain for help as oxygen was slowly sucked from the air and they realised they were probably going to die.
They also used a pole to scrape holes in the side of the container as they desperately sought air, or escape.
Surely few details encapsulate the visceral horror of this tragedy – or the wickedness of people trafficking – more than this.
The brother of Hoang Van Tiep carries his portrait outside Trung Song church during his funeral on Thursday. Credit: AP
The victims were found on October 23 in the trailer attached to a Scania cab in an industrial park in Grays, Essex.
They were later identified as coming from various provinces of Vietnam, with the youngest being two boys aged 15.
Several suspects have been arrested in the UK and Vietnam.
Maurice Mo Robinson, 25, pleaded guilty to plotting to assist illegal immigration at the Old Bailey on Tuesday.