Essex migrant lorry deaths suspect pleads guilty to people smuggling charge ahead of Old Bailey trial
12:30, 07 October 2020
updated: 15:28, 07 October 2020
A man has admitted being part of a plot to smuggle people into the UK in which 39 Vietnamese migrants died .
The victims were found dead inside a lorry in Essex last year – among them were 10 teenagers including two 15-year-old boys.
Gheorghe Nica, of Basildon in Essex, has been charged with manslaughter and is due to stand trial at the Old Bailey.
The 43-year-old British-Romanian citizen was also charged with conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and has pleaded guilty to that charge before going on trial.
Men, women and children were among the 39 people found dead inside the lorry's container close to the Dartford Crossing on October 23 last year. The truck had arrived by ferry at Purfleet in Essex.
Lorry driver Eamonn Harrison, 23, of Mayobridge, County Down in Northern Ireland, is also charged with their manslaughter.
Two other men have been accused of being part of the plan to assist unlawful immigration between May 1, 2018 and October 24, 2019.
Valentin Calota, 37, of Birmingham, and Christopher Kennedy, 24, of County Armagh, Northern Ireland have denied the charges.
Harrison and Nica have also denied the manslaughter charges brought against them.
The trial at the Old Bailey is due to get under way later before Mr Justice Sweeney.
The victims – aged between 15 and 44 – were named as: Dinh Dinh Binh, 15, Nguyen Minh Quang, 20, Nguyen Huy Phong, 35, Le Van Ha, 30, Nguyen Van Hiep, 24, Bui Phan Thang, 37, Nguyen Van Hung, 33, Nguyen Huy Hung, 15, Nguyen Tien Dung, 33, Pham Thi Tra My, 26, Tran Khanh Tho, 18, Nguyen Van Nhan, 33, Vo Ngoc Nam, 28, Vo Van Linh, 25, Nguyen Ba Vu Hung, 34, Vo Nhan Du, 19, Tran Hai Loc, 35, Tran Manh Hung, 37, Nguyen Thi Van, 35, Bui Thi Nhung, 19, Hoang Van Tiep, 18, Tran Thi Ngoc, 19, Phan Thi Thanh, 41, Tran Thi Tho, 21, Duong Minh Tuan, 27, Pham Thi Ngoc Oanh, 28, Tran Thi Mai Nhung, 18, Le Trong Thanh, 44, Nguyen Ngoc Ha, 32, Hoang Van Hoi, 24, Tran Ngoc Hieu, 17, Cao Tien Dung, 37, Dinh Dinh Thai Quyen, 18, Dong Huu Tuyen, 22, Nguyen Dinh Luong, 20, Cao Huy Thanh, 37, Nguyen Trong Thai, 26, Nguyen Tho Tuan, 25, and Nguyen Dinh Tu, 26.
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