UK Judge Jails 4 Men For Combined 78 Years Over Vietnamese Migrant Deaths - Reports

UK Judge Jails 4 Men for Combined 78 Years Over Vietnamese Migrant Deaths - Reports

Four men in the United Kingdom convicted of the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese migrants who died in the back of a truck in October 2019 have been jailed for a combined 78 years, domestic media outlets reported on Friday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2021) Four men in the United Kingdom convicted of the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese migrants who died in the back of a truck in October 2019 have been jailed for a combined 78 years, domestic media outlets reported on Friday.

During a sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey in London, ringleaders Ronan Hughes and Gheorghe Nica were jailed for 20 and 27 years, respectively, the BBC broadcaster reports.

"I have no doubt that the conspiracy was a sophisticated, long-running and profitable one to smuggle mainly Vietnamese people across the channel," Judge Nigel Sweeney said during the hearing, as quoted by the broadcaster.

Eamonn Harrison, a truck driver who brought the trailer containing the migrants to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, was jailed for 18 years, the broadcaster said.

Maurice Robinson, who collected the trailer after its arrival in the United Kingdom only to find the migrants dead, was sentenced to 13 years and four months in prison, the broadcaster said.

During the trial, Hughes's lawyer said that the smuggling ring often only moved a maximum of 25 migrants at a time, adding that he was unaware of how many people were in the doomed trailer.

Essex police discovered the bodies of 39 people inside the trailer while it was parked in an industrial park in the town of Grays. The individuals were later identified as Vietnamese nationals who had suffocated to death in the sealed trailer.