Haulier appears in court over deaths of 39 migrants found in lorry container
Written by News on 24/06/2020
A haulier has appeared in court charged with the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese migrants who were found dead inside a lorry container in Essex.
Ronan Hughes, who was extradited to the UK from Ireland, appeared via video link from a police station.
The 40-year-old faces 39 charges of manslaughter, and one count of facilitating the illegal entry of people into Britain between May 2018 and October 2019.
Prosecutors allege he played a leading role by allowing his trailers and drivers to be used in human trafficking.
The bodies of 31 Vietnamese men and eight women were found suffocated in the trailer of a lorry on an industrial estate at Grays in the early hours of 23 October 2019.
The trailer had arrived earlier at Purfleet docks on a ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium.
During the hearing, the judge read out the names of those who died.
Hughes was flanked by two police officers wearing face masks during an 11-minute hearing at Southend Magistrates Court.
He was not asked to enter pleas and did not ask for bail.
He told the court he was Irish and gave an address in County Armagh, Northern Ireland.
Hughes was remanded in custody and will appear next at the Old Bailey in London on 22 July for a plea hearing.
Northern Ireland lorry driver Maurice Robinson, 25, pleaded guilty to 39 manslaughter charges in April – and he will be sentenced at a later date.
(c) Sky News 2020: Haulier appears in court over deaths of 39 migrants found in lorry container
