People smuggler ordered to pay £3,000 to bereaved families of 39 migrants eveningtelegraph.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eveningtelegraph.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Press Association 2021
Bodies found in lorry container
Members of a million-pound people-smuggling ring could be facing life behind bars for the manslaughter of 39 migrants.
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.
The “unscrupulous” gang behind the illegal shipment were motivated by greed as they pursued profits of more than £1 million that month alone.
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.