Lorry tragedy
Northern Ireland man Eamonn Harrison and co-accused face life in jail over deaths of 39 migrants in lorry
Updated: 21 Dec 2020, 15:46
A NORTHERN Ireland man and his co-accused face life in jail over the deaths of 39 migrants who suffocated in the back of a lorry.
Eamonn Harrison, 24, and Romanian Gheorghe Nica, 43, were found guilty of manslaughter at London’s Old Bailey today.
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The lorry was found with 39 bodies in after the victims were smuggled into the UKCredit: PA:Press Association
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Another man, Christopher Kennedy from Keady, Co Armagh, was found guilty of conspiracy.
The migrants, all from Vietnam, were being brought into the UK as part of a money-spinning international people smuggling operation.
During the cross-Channel trip on board the Clementine, the group had desperately tried to raise the alarm, even calling the Vietnamese emergency number, as they ran out of air.
When they found there was no mobile phone signal in the trailer, some recorded goodbye messages to their families.
Nguyen Tho Tuan, 25, told his family: I am sorry. I cannot take care of you. I am sorry. I am sorry. I cannot breathe. I want to come back to my family. Have a good life.
A metal pole had been used to try to punch through the roof of the refrigerated container, but only managed to dent the interior.
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
By Press Association 2021
Victims found in the back of a trailer
An “unscrupulous” gang of people-smugglers are facing years behind bars for their part in the deaths of 39 migrants.
The Vietnamese victims, aged between 15 and 44, suffocated in the back of a trailer as they were shipped to Purfleet in Essex from Belgium on October 23 last year.
With false promises of a better life in Britain, they were betrayed by greedy criminals who pursued profits of more than £1 million that month alone.
On Monday, Romanian ringleader Gheorghe Nica, 43, from Basildon, and lorry driver Eamonn Harrison, 24, from County Down, were found guilty of 39 counts of manslaughter.
They could be facing life behind bars for the manslaughter of 39 migrants.
Another man, Christopher Kennedy from Keady, was found guilty of conspiracy.
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 to Purfleet.
Following a 10-week trial, Romanian ringleader Gheorghe Nica, 43, from Basildon, and lorry driver Eamonn Harrison, 24, from County Down, were found guilty on Monday of 39 counts of manslaughter.
They were also convicted of their part in the people-smuggling operation with lorry driver Christopher Kennedy, 24, from County Armagh, and Valentin Calota, 38, from Birmingham.