By Press Association 2021
Maurice Robinson, 26, leaving Purfleet port, Essex (Essex Police/PA)
A lorry driver who discovered the bodies of 39 migrants in the back of his trailer had been “blind to the risks” of people smuggling, a court has heard.
The Vietnamese victims, aged between 15 and 44, had suffocated in the sealed container as it was shipped from Zeebrugge to Purfleet in Essex in October 2019.
Maurice Robinson, 26, was left in shock after he opened the doors and found they were all dead, the Old Bailey was told.
His boss and ringleader in the operation Ronan Hughes, 41, had told him to give them air quickly after collecting the trailer from the docks.
By Press Association 2021
Maurice Robinsonâs trailer and tractor unit, which was shown at the Old Bailey, London, during the trial (Essex Police/PA)
A ringleader of the people-smuggling ring responsible for the deaths of 39 migrants closed his eyes in the dock as his victims’ final agonising gasps were heard for the first time in court.
Haulier boss Ronan Hughes joined seven other defendants at the Old Bailey to be sentenced for their role in the “sophisticated long running” operation when ended in tragedy on October 23 2019.
The 39 Vietnamese men, women and children had suffocated in sweltering temperatures in a sealed container as they were shipped from Zeebrugge to Purfleet in Essex.
Even when they died they were together : Heartbreaking story of couple who left their young children in Vietnam to set up new life in the UK - as heartbroken parents reveal pair were holding hands when they died in back of Essex lorry
Nguyen Thi Van and Tran Hai Loc were found holding hands inside lorry trailer
Couple were huddled together when they were discovered among the 39 dead
The pair left behind their son Thang, seven, and five-year-old daughter Trang
Scores of mobile phones were found in the lorry belonging to the people who died.
They had used their phones to see in the darkness and to try to message loved ones, in vain, as they slipped away. One of the phones belonged to 26 year old Pham Thi Tra My.
It is over a year since her parents found out about their daughter s death. On the living room wall of their house, in the Can Loc District of Vietnam s central Ha Tinh Province, there is a shrine to Tra My. The flowers on the shelf around her photograph are freshly cut.