Page 5 - Jonathan Polnay News Today

Maurice Robinson had been horrified at the deaths of 39 migrants in a trailer, his counsel said.

Lorry driver ‘blind to the risks’ of people smuggling, court told  |  Updated: 13:52, 08 January 2021 A lorry driver who discovered the bodies of 39 migrants in the back of his trailer had been “blind to the risks” of people smuggling, a court has heard. The Vietnamese victims, aged between 15 and 44, had suffocated in the sealed container as it was shipped from Zeebrugge to Purfleet in Essex in October 2019. Maurice Robinson, 26, was left in shock after he opened the door...

The Armagh man who was leader of the people-smuggling ring responsible for the deaths of 39 migrants closed his eyes in the dock as his victims’ final agonising gasps were heard for the first time in court. Haulier Ronan Hughes joined seven other defendants at the Old Bailey to be sentenced for their role in the “sophisticated, long-running” operation that ended in tragedy on October 23, 2019. The 39 Vietnamese men, women and children had suffocated in sweltering temperatures in a sealed ...

By Press Association 2021 Maurice Robinson, 26, leaving Purfleet port, Essex (Essex Police/PA) A lorry driver who discovered the bodies of 39 migrants in the back of his trailer had been “blind to the risks” of people smuggling, a court has heard. The Vietnamese victims, aged between 15 and 44, had suffocated in the sealed container as it was shipped from Zeebrugge to Purfleet in Essex in October 2019. Maurice Robinson, 26, was left in...

Their families revealed their grief and loss as those responsible for the tragedy prepared to be sentenced. Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay read a statement from UK-based Nguyen Huy Tung, father of 15-year-old Nguyen Huy Hung, who learned about his son’s death on social media. He said: “We were very shocked, trembled, we lost track and awareness of surroundings. My wife fainted when our son’s name was mentioned. Recordings of phone messages of some of the 39 victims were played to the court (I...

I CANT BREATHE Heartbreaking final moments of 39 migrants crying for help & gasping for air before they died in lorry played to court Updated: 7 Jan 2021, 14:30 THE heartbreaking final moments of 39 migrants crying for help and gasping for air before they died in a lorry were played in court today. Drivers Eamonn Harrison, 23, and Maurice Robinson, 26, together with Romanian fixer Gheorghe Nica, 43, were paid by kingpin Ronan Hughes, 40, to ferry non-EU citizens into the UK. 12 The lorry was f...

In one message, a man spoke with ragged breaths as he apologised to his family. He said: "I cant breathe.I want to come back to my family. Have a good life." In the background, a voice could be heard pleading: "Come on everyone. Open up, open up." The sound of people moaning and gasping in obvious distress as they rapidly ran out of air was evident in the recording. The migrants had desperately tried to raise the alarm, and even used a pole to try to punch through the roof of the container, the...

Desperate voice messages recorded by illegal immigrants slowly suffocating in a lorry trailer have been played to a court. They were found on the phones of the 39 Vietnamese men, women and teenagers whose bodies were discovered in Essex in October 2019. Image: A photo of one of the migrants who died in the lorry in Essex A stunned court at the Old Bailey heard victims gasping for breath, coughing and crying on three recordings intended for their families, but never sent because ...

BBC News Published image copyrightEssex Police image captionNguyen Huy Hung was one of 39 people who died in a container en route from Belgium to Essex The father of a 15-year-old boy who was one of 39 people to die in a lorry trailer said he learned of his sons death through social media. Nguyen Huy Hung died in the sealed container en route from Belgium to Purfleet, Essex, in October 2019. His father, Nguyen Huy Tung, said the family could not believe it until "we saw his body by our own eyes...

By Press Association 2021 Maurice Robinson’s trailer and tractor unit, which was shown at the Old Bailey, London, during the trial (Essex Police/PA) A ringleader of the people-smuggling ring responsible for the deaths of 39 migrants closed his eyes in the dock as his victims’ final agonising gasps were heard for the first time in court. Haulier boss Ronan Hughes joined seven other defendants at the Old Bailey to be sentenced for the...