Det Ch Insp Stoten said: "The officers who attended that - most of them were very young in service and some of them had never experienced a dead person, a deceased person, before. Who are the victims in the Essex lorry tragedy? [89], In October 2021, the BBC broadcast the hour-long documentary Hunting the Essex Lorry Killers. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk, Man sentenced over lorry deaths smuggling ring, Lorry deaths driver 'blind to smuggling risks', Dad learned of son's lorry death via social media, Two found guilty of killing 39 migrants in lorry, Irish smuggling connection to Essex lorry deaths, The supposed 'VIP' journey that killed 39 people, Police release CCTV of missing Essex man not seen for month, Great Oaks, Basildon, closed by police after incident, Clacton Railway Club to host memorial darts tournament, Southend and District Badminton Association week 11, Street light switch-off plan not safe and not sensible, Basildon Eastgate sees worker suffer 'serious injuries' in fall, German police deny Greta's detainment was staged, Iran man who beheaded wife jailed for eight years, Maximum two drinks a week, Canada guidance advises. [48], On 4 November, Vietnamese police arrested eight suspects in the central province of Ngh An in connection with the smuggling ring. What she was seeing was a people-smuggling operation run by the same gang responsible for the 39 deaths. "A load of immigrants just got out of a lorry, they just got into Mercedes and all that," Ms Andrews told the 999 operator. Essex lorry deaths: Trafficking ringleader jailed for 15 years after 39 died from suffocation and hyperthermia Eight women and 31 men were sealed inside the vehicle for at least 12 hours as . The trial focused on four people-smuggling runs by the gang in the space of just a fortnight in October 2019 which, if they had all been successful, would have brought more than 80 Vietnamese migrants into the UK and netted the organisers 800,000. Det Ch Insp Daniel Stoten, of Essex Police, said: "They are callous and they are dangerous and they are out to exploit these people. Each of them had climbed inside the lorry - emblazoned with the words "the ultimate dream" - in search of a new life, that would actually lead them to their deaths. Germany: We are no longer reliant on Russian energy, City asks Madonna if it can borrow her painting, US porn star declared unfit for sex crimes trial, Jeremy Renner TV show poster edited after accident, Keep cake away from office, says food adviser, Maximum two drinks a week, Canada guidance advises. He said on the fatal trip the temperature had been rising along with the carbon dioxide levels throughout, hitting 40C (104F) while the container was at sea on 22 October 2019. [4][14], The ambulance service said that all 39 people were dead before it arrived, and attempts at resuscitation could not be made. Inside was an almost unimaginable sight: 39 people, 10 of them teenagers, were dead. One of those was Nguyen Thi Hong, whose husband Bui Phan Thang died in the lorry. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Eight women and 31 men were sealed inside the vehicle for at least 12 hours as temperatures reached an "unbearable" 38.5C (101F). Sixteen days after police officers found the pile of bodies in the back of the refrigerated lorry. "[53], On 17 April 2020, a 42-year-old man from Tottenham was charged with an immigration offence related to the deaths. Witness X was taken to Phong's house in south London, where he stayed until his parents had "paid his fare" - a fare Witness X described as "too much" for what was supposed to be another "VIP" trip. 2023 BBC. The stories of the 39 show their journeys from Vietnam were often done in stages. Essex lorry deaths: The supposed 'VIP' journey that killed 39 people 21 December 2020 Essex lorry deaths Pham Thi Ngoc Oanh, 28, from Nghe An, wrote a text message that was never sent By. [71][72] Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, of Tilbury, and Gazmir Nuzi, of Tottenham, also pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration in June and September 2020 respectively. [59] The police operation was organised with a cross-border team organised by Eurojust that included Belgium, France, the UK and Ireland. Ronan Hughes, 41, who ran a haulage company and organised the lorries and drivers to transport the migrants, was sentenced to 20 years at the Old Bailey on Friday. It's unclear who they are or exactly how they came into the country but one of the biggest murder investigations in British history is underway. [5][6][7][8] The trailer was loaded onto the freight ferry Clementine in Zeebrugge in Belgium. "He said he would not go in a container lorry and that it needed to be safe, even though the truck option was a lot cheaper.". On 23 October 2019, the bodies of 39 Vietnamese people 31 men and 8 women were found in the trailer of an articulated refrigerator lorry in Grays, Essex, United Kingdom. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison. But he couldn't find work in Germany. Nguyen Van Hung's mother, Pham Thi Lan, agreed. Some of the victims reassured their anxious families that they had paid extra for a so-called VIP journey to the UK which meant the lorry driver was helping them to cross the border, and there was no need for them to break into vehicles and stow themselves away. Want the latest Essex news direct to your inbox? We've just seen what has been said online. Police were called at 5am. Read about our approach to external linking. Robinson, from County Armagh, collected the trailer when it arrived on UK shores just after midnight on 23 October. Eamonn Harrison, 24, who towed the trailer to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge before their journey to the UK, was sentenced to 18 years. Valentin Calota, 38, a pickup driver from Romania, who collected migrants from the lorry drop-off spot in Essex and drove them to London during an earlier consignment, was sentenced to four and a half years. On 23 October 2019 we were called to a scene that no officer could ever have prepared for. Police believe that the cab was driven from Northern Ireland on 19 October. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk, Lorry container 'became a tomb' for 39 victims, Essex lorry deaths driver admits manslaughter. [21] The family of a 26-year-old Vietnamese woman made public her last text message to her parents which she sent as she was dying;[22] her family said they paid around 30,000 to smuggle their daughter from Vietnam to the UK. Someone said he should go to the UK. He accepted Hughes was "not at the very top of the conspiracy" but said his role was "pivotal in that he ran a haulage business and supplied the trailers and drivers used to transport the migrants". [98] After confirmation that they were all from Vietnam, the Vietnamese government strongly condemned human trafficking and called on all countries to combat such activities to prevent a recurrence of the incident. The court heard some of their final desperate phone messages, including one where a man spoke with ragged breaths as he apologised to his family. After his brief drive around Grays, Robinson again parked up at the industrial estate. [69] The fact that many locations were mentioned in the warrant did not mean that the offences were extraterritorial and the accused was in the UK and had acted to further an act of conspiracy that underpinned the charges of manslaughter. A 25-year-old Vietnamese woman is believed to be among the dead after her family received a haunting series of text messages. ", Cousins Hoang Van Tiep (left), 18, and Nguyen Van Hung, 33, died together in the container, Both Maurice Robinson (left) and Ronan Hughes admitted 39 counts of manslaughter in connection with the case, After receiving this message from his boss, Robinson got out of his cab, opened the trailer door and discovered the bodies, Gheorghe Nica, Eamonn Harrison and Christopher Kennedy were all part of the people-smuggling conspiracy, Ronan Hughes (left) was captured on CCTV meeting Gheorghe Nica at a hotel, Twelve days before 39 people were found dead in the back of a lorry, the same cab was seen repeatedly in a country lane in Orsett, Essex, This is the moment Maurice Robinson opened the trailer door and discovered the bodies inside was captured on CCTV, A relative paid tribute to Bui Thi Nhung as families mourned the deaths of the 39 people. [54] On 20 April 2020 a 40-year-old man was arrested in the Republic of Ireland in connection with the deaths. "I can't breathe," he said. The cars collecting the people inside the lorry drove away from the scene. Five people were found not guilty. Despite initially protesting his innocence in police interviews, officers quickly discovered Robinson was actually part of an enormous lucrative people-smuggling ring - led by kingpin Ronan Hughes. It was a discovery that would hurl Essex into the international spotlight as police, press and forensics descended on the industrial estate that had become the scene of a devastating mass grave. The families of the victims who lost their lives continue to mourn their losses, with many still struggling with the debts of the money they spent in search of a better life. I want to come back to my family. Other people involved in the case were jailed for between one and 10 years. [48], On 4 March 2020, a man from Essex was charged with an immigration offence related to the deaths. A week later, she saw the same red-cabbed lorry in front of her home, near the village golf club, during yet another smuggling run. Both men had made it as far as France - Tiep, via Russia, in 2017, and his older cousin a year later. Families of Vietnamese migrants found dead in lorry in Essex to be paid 180,000, Essex lorry deaths: Man charged with 39 counts of manslaughter appears in court, Essex lorry deaths: Police release image of suspect Marius Draghici wanted in connection with deaths of 39 Vietnamese nationals. [66] He was remanded in custody until 13 December when he appeared in court, via a video link from Belmarsh Prison in London where he was being held until his trial. From this point onwards, a sensor inside the trailer tells its own story of a relentless rise in temperature. Sign up to the EssexLive newsletter below for the latest news straight to your inbox: If you're looking for a way to stay up-to-date with the latest breaking news from around Essex, the EssexLive newsletter is a good place to start. "There is no VIP service - these are the lies people are told to be exploited," he said. Hughes, 41, and lorry driver Maurice Robinson, 26, had previously admitted the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese migrants who were found dead in a lorry trailer in Essex in October 2019. Cars collecting the people inside the trailer when it arrived on UK shores just after midnight on 23 2019. Charged with an immigration offence related to the deaths on 23 October from Vietnam were often done in stages April. And 10 years inside the lorry it arrived on UK shores just after midnight 23. At the industrial estate of those was Nguyen Thi Hong, whose husband Bui Phan Thang died in the lorry! 39 people, 10 of them teenagers, were dead husband Bui Phan Thang died the. 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