UK - 39 bodies found in lorry, Essex, 23 October 2019

[HayLouise]

Photo shows the cab that drove the ill-fated container carrying 39 migrants into Zeebrugge port under armed escort after it was seized at Dublin port on Saturday.The Bulgarian registered cab will know be transported to the UK for further examination..



Padraig O'Reilly Photographer on Twitter

 

[goldielox]

Very interesting how an eager crowd can work - one journalist gets up to charge their laptop, the whole pack jumps up to queue at the court room door. We're quickly told to calm down.

Ellis Whitehouse on Twitter

I think Ellis is definitely a tad over-excited.

 

[HayLouise]

LIVE: Outside Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court as “Mo” Robinson is due to appear via videolink after being charged with 39 counts of manslaughter following the Essex lorry deaths.

(Live video)

RT UK on Twitter

 

[HayLouise]

We’re queuing again now. British journalists are strong at queuing.

Ellis Whitehouse on Twitter

 

[HayLouise]

Reporters from around the world, including the US and Australia, are gathering outside Chelmsford magistrates this morning. Maurice Robinson, 25, is due to appear via video link in connection with the deaths of 39 people in Grays.



BBC Essex on Twitter

 

[HayLouise]

We’re told that many of us will have to sit in the public gallery as our number is huge. Members of the public being allowed in first - no sign of life yet.

Ellis Whitehouse on Twitter

 

[HayLouise]

Relatives in Vietnam who fear their loved ones were among the 39 people who were found dead in a lorry container in Essex have been giving DNA samples to help investigators identify the bodies.

Here's what we know so far: Essex lorry container deaths: What we know so far

(video)

Sky News on Twitter

 

[HayLouise]

.@PeterAdamSmith has spoken to the relatives of people thought to have died in the back of a lorry in Essex earlier this week.

They face an anxious wait as investigators try to find out the identities of the victims

Essex lorry deaths: Families face anxious wait to find out fate of their loved ones

(Video)

ITV News on Twitter

 

[Ched]

'People smugglers' in Belgium pretended Essex lorry migrants were cookies and biscuits, prosecutor reveals

One driver, named by the federal prosecutor as a 23-year-old Northern Irishman, is alleged to have told port officials in Zeebrugge that because cookies did not need to be frozen, he did not need to turn the container's refrigeration unit on, according to Het Nieuwsblad.
Belgium now believe that the 31 men and eight women suffocated, rather than froze to death as previously believed, though there has been no official confirmation of this.
As Vietnamese families face an anxious wait for news on their missing loved ones, the federal prosecutor Eric Van der Sypt said that the last of the emergency text messages from a suspected victim was sent two hours before the container was picked up in Essex.

Mr Van der Sypt told Belgian media: "We are also looking for those responsible for this drama. We suspect that even more people are involved. It is quite possible that the driver did not know what he was transporting."

 

[HayLouise]

9:46am

Lorry driver Mo Robinson is due to appear in Chelmsford Magistrates' Court today.

He is charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and money laundering.

9:48am

Robinson, of Laurel Drive, Craigavon, Northern Ireland was arrested "shortly after the discovery was made at the Waterglade Retail Park".

9:51am

He was charged on Saturday and is expected to appear via video link this morning.

9:53am

Robinson's is the only case listed in court 7 of Chelmsford Magistrates' Court today.

Unsurprisingly, there is a large number of journalists waitiing to get access to the court room.

Live updates as Mo Robinson appears in court this morning

 

[HayLouise]

9:55am

Over the weekend, it also emerged a man who was arrested at Dublin Port is also a "person of interest"in the lorry deaths investigation.

9:57am

This is the scene at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court this morning.



9:59am

As well as Robinson, Essex Police have also arrested three other people.

A 38-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman from Warrington were arrested in Cheshire on Friday, while a 46 year-old man from Northern Ireland was arrested at Stansted Airport later the same day.

All have been released on bail.

The full story of those arrests can be found here.

10:01am

And we cannot forget what is at the route of this tragic story; 39 families have lost loved ones.

And over the weekend, it emerged one potential victim, a Vietnamese woman named Pham Tra My, was begged not to leave by her family.

She is understood to have tried to make contact with her family in the hours before her death, texting: "I am really, really sorry, Mum and Dad, my trip to a foreign land has failed.

"I am dying, I can't breathe. I love you very much Mum and Dad. I am sorry, Mother."

Live updates as Mo Robinson appears in court this morning

 

[Ched]

The East of England Ambulance Service were the first emergency services on the scene and sent five ambulances, hazardous area response teams and a car from the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance.
Essex lorry container deaths: What we know so far
One witness told Sky News he saw the lorry parked in the industrial park on Tuesday afternoon.
it's believed many Irish trucks take on a Bulgarian identity for tax reasons.

 

[HayLouise]

10:02am

To give you an idea of the interest in this case, here is a video from the court building this morning.

(video)

10:05am

Journalists have now been informed the hearing is close to starting.


10:08am

To give you an idea, a really high profile Essex case might see maybe five or six reporters trying to get into court.

There are dozens at the court today; this is a story which has attracted worldwide attention.

10:12am

Today's hearing is likely to be very procedural.

Magistrates will make it clear very early on that the matter before them is too serious for them to accept and will refer the matter on to - most likely - Chelmsford Crown Court.

There may be a bit of to-ing an fro-ing between solicitors.

Robinson may apply for bail, as is his right.

But we won't know that until the hearing begins.

Live updates as Mo Robinson appears in court this morning

 

[goldielox]

Err, the case probably isn't listed to start till 10.30.
Someone please give Ellis a valium.




Ellis Whitehouse
@E_Whitehouse293
·
4m
Still no sign of life. Magistrates’ court in a nutshell.

 

[HayLouise]

We’re being brought in now.

Ellis Whitehouse on Twitter

 

[goldielox]

Ellis is in the dock!

 

[HayLouise]

We’re in, and have filled the whole court room. I’m currently sat with other journalists behind bulletproof glass in the dock, usually for defendants. This feels weird.

Ellis Whitehouse on Twitter

 

[Deleted member 238128]

Ellis is in the dock!

and boy is he excited!

 

[jamjim]

We’re in, and have filled the whole court room. I’m currently sat with other journalists behind bulletproof glass in the dock, usually for defendants. This feels weird.

Ellis Whitehouse on Twitter

Bless him, how excitable is Ellis this morning.

 

[HayLouise]

25 year old Mo Robinson is on the screen at Chelmsford Magistrates Court, wearing a grey jumper, mention about to get underway @9NewsAUS

Sophie Walsh on Twitter