Two People-Smugglers Found Guilty of Deaths of 39 Vietnamese Migrants

London: Two men have been found guilty of the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese migrants found dead in a lorry trailer in Essex. The migrants suffocated in the sealed container en route from Zeebrugge to Purfleet in October 2019. Eamonn Harrison, 24, who dropped off the trailer at the Belgian port, and people-smuggler Gheorghe Nica, 43, were convicted by an Old Bailey jury. Two others were convicted of being part of a wider people-smuggling conspiracy.

The trial examined three smuggling attempts by the gang – two that were successful on 11 and 18 October, and the final trip on 23 October. Lorry driver Christopher Kennedy, 24, from County Armagh, collected the trailers from Purfleet on the earlier two runs, claiming he thought he was transporting cigarettes. But the jury found Kennedy and Valentin Calota, 38, of Birmingham, guilty of conspiring to assist illegal immigration. During the trial, jurors were given a snapshot of the victims – who included a bricklayer, a university graduate and a nailbar technician – and their dreams of a better life. Many of their families borrowed heavily to fund their passage, relying on their potential future earnings once they got into the UK.

Read more: BBC News, https://is.gd/5w8wFw