Essex lorry deaths: Driver pleads guilty over 39 people found dead in container

Derrick Santistevan

A lorry driver has actually pleaded guilty to the murder of 39 people who were found dead in the back of a cooled container in Essex.

Maurice Robinson, 25, from Craigavon in Northern Ireland, entered his plea at the Old Bailey.

Emergency situation services found the bodies of the Vietnamese nationals at a commercial estate in Grays, Essex, quickly after the lorry shown up on a ferryboat from Zeebrugge in Belgium in the early hours of October 23 in 2015.

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Forensic officers examine the lorry in which the bodies were found

The men, children and women eliminated consisted of 10 teens, 2 of them 15- year-old kids.

5 men charged after an examination by Essex Cops stood for a virtual hearing at the Old Bailey prior to Mr Justice Sweeney.

Robinson had actually formerly confessed conspiracy to help illegal migration and obtaining criminal property.

At the hearing on Wednesday, the truck driver likewise confessed 39 counts of murder on or prior to October 24 in 2015.

Robinson, who rejected a more charge of moving criminal property, appeared at court through video link along with 4 other co-defendants.

British Romanian Gheorghe Nica, 43, of Mimosa Close in Langdon Hills, rejected 39 counts of murder.

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The Waterglade Industrial Park where the 39 bodies were found in a lorry container

He likewise rejected one count of conspiracy to help illegal migration in between Might 1 2018 and October 24 2019.

Romanian national Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, 27, of Hobart Roadway in Tilbury, rejected a charge of conspiracy to help illegal migration.

Christopher Kennedy, 23, of Corkley Roadway in Darkley, Co Armagh, Northern Ireland, has actually formerly rejected conspiracy to help illegal migration

Valentin Calota, 37, of Cossington Roadway in Birmingham, was not asked to go into a plea to the charge of conspiring to help illegal migration.

District Attorney William Emlyn Jones QC stated a human trafficking conspiracy charge was being dropped in relation to Kennedy and Robinson.

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A vigil outside the Home Office for those who passed away

He asked for 3 weeks to choose whether to continue with a trial versus Robinson on the exceptional charge he dealt with.

The other accuseds are arranged to deal with a trial at the Old Bailey lasting as much as 8 weeks from October 5.

The court hearing was performed practically with many legal representatives and court press reporters going to by Skype.

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