Two men have convicted of the manslaughter after 39 Vietnamese migrants were found dead in a lorry trailer in Essex in 2019. The migrants were suffocated in a sealed container en route from Zeebrugge to Purfleet in October of last year.

Eamonn Harrison who is 24 dropped off the trailer at the Belgian port before the people-smuggler Gheorghe Nica, 43 took over. Both men have been were convicted by an Old Bailey jury. Two other individuals were convicted of being part of a wider people-smuggling operation.

The jury was told the details of three smuggling attempts by the gang,  two that were successful on  the 11th and 18th of October before the  and final and fatal trip on the 23rd October.

Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Stoten from Essex Police has said: “If you look at the method, the way they transported human beings… we wouldn’t transport animals in that way”. The Home Secretary Priti Patel has described the deaths as a “truly tragic incident” and has reacted to the convictions by saying: “Today’s convictions only strengthen my resolve to do all I can to go after the people-smugglers who prey on the vulnerable and trade in human misery”.

The migrants on board aged from 15 years old to 44 and were sealed inside for at least 12 hours. Working for the prosecution, Bill Emlyn Jones said: “There was no way out, and no-one to hear them; no-one to help them”. The bodies of 39 Vietnamese nationals were discovered in the refrigerated trailer. 

The day after the bodies were found, UNN’s Oliver Down understands that Nica travelled to Romania as a result of him being “scared” of a “big, big investigation”.  Mr Justice Sweeney has adjourned the sentencing of all the defendants until the 7th, 8th and 11th of January.

Current Affairs Correspondent | My name is Oliver Down I am 22, and a staunch brexiteer. I am a Bristolian lad who studied politics in Leicester. I believe in free speech and accurate journalism and I won’t be afraid to give you “the other side” of the story!

This content was sourced from Unity News Network.