Essex lorry deaths: Ronan Hughes admits manslaughter

A man has admitted manslaughter after the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants found in a lorry container in Essex.

The men, women and children were discovered in a refrigerated trailer on 23 October in Grays.

Haulier Ronan Hughes, 40, of County Armagh, Northern Ireland, admitted manslaughter and conspiring to assist unlawful immigration at the Old Bailey.

A second man, Eamonn Harrison, 23, of Mayobridge, County Down, denied 39 charges of manslaughter.

He also pleaded not guilty to conspiring to assist unlawful immigration and faces a trial in October.

Hughes, whose conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration charge spanned 1 May 2018 to 24 October 24 2019, was described as “a ringleader of a people smuggling ring”.

The bodies of the Vietnamese nationals were discovered at an industrial estate soon after the lorry arrived in the UK on a ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium.

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Ten teenagers, two of them 15-year-old boys, were among the dead.

An inquest heard their medical cause of death was asphyxia and hyperthermia.

Earlier this year, lorry driver Maurice Robinson, 25, of Craigavon, County Armagh, pleaded guilty to 39 counts of manslaughter and conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.