UK - 39 bodies found in lorry container, Essex, 23 Oct 2019 *Guilty* #3

[CSIDreamer]

Essex lorry deaths: Driver earned £100k from people smuggling
"Mr Justice Sweeney said today that the sentencing – initially listed for three days – may last longer as facts of the case are disputed by the defence teams...
The court heard Robinson and Hughes denied knowledge of how many migrants were crammed into the back of the lorry on the fatal journey.
A ‘Newton hearing’ – where the judge resolves major factual issues without a jury – may be held to determine key issues in the sentencing, the judge said.
Mr Polnay said: ‘The prosecution submits the conspirators were aware of the number of people being transported in the lorry, and were aware that this was risky.’ "
"The desperate foreign nationals had paid them around £12,000 each for a ‘VIP’ route to the UK – one of two options offered to them – promising success but not safety. Even migrants who survived earlier trips with loads of around 15 to 20 compatriots suffered life-threatening conditions...
They typically became short of breath and ‘ill’ towards the end of their journey as carbon dioxide in the confined space reached toxic levels, the police chief said.
But the fatal voyage – in which the smugglers crammed 39 people into the trailer to do two loads in one – was ‘doomed to failure,’ said DCI Stoten.
He said: ‘The VIP option is more about getting them through getting through successfully.’
‘If the lorry driver knows they’re less likely to stop and check the load and kick them out. "

And more explicit references to MR's proceeds having been spent re-furbishing his girlfriend's salon.

Makes you wonder if any of the earlier passengers suffered any lasting damage. JMO

 

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Some more detailed live reporting from Jordan Milne of Sky News
https://twitter.com/JEMilneSky/status/1347477301534093312

 

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Essex lorry deaths: Maurice Robinson 'blind to people-smuggling risks'

 

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Gazmir Nuzi to be sentenced on Monday, the rest on Friday.

https://twitter.com/JEMilneSky/status/1347545143021285376

 

[CaptainNancy]

Good to have Jordan Milne’s detailed accounts again.

 

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Nuzi jailed for 10 months
Man on fringes of Essex smuggling ring jailed after admitting part in earlier lorry plot

 

[CaptainNancy]

Essex lorry deaths: Gazmir Nuzi sentenced over people-smuggling ring

'Imminent release' due to his time already spent in custody.

 

[CaptainNancy]

Sentencing resumes again tomorrow, I think!

 

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Sentencing resumes again tomorrow, I think!

It's now going to be on Friday 22nd January according to Jordan Milne.

https://twitter.com/JEMilneSky/status/1349331406426697730

 

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'Taxi driver who brought Vietnamese victims to continent ' facing extradition

A man has appeared in court at an extradition hearing linked to a people-smuggling operation that led to the deaths of 39 migrants.

De Zich Noemende Tai, from Vietnam, who also goes by the name Hung Sy Truong, is accused of being one of the taxi drivers who dropped off migrants on the continent shortly before 39 Vietnamese men, women and children were found dead in the back of a lorry in Purfleet on October 22 2019.

Westminster Magistrates' Court in London heard he is suspected of having been involved in transporting at least 10 of the 39 found dead, moving them from a safe house in Anderlecht, Brussels, in taxis to a location near the French/Belgian border before they were put onto the lorry, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).

After hearing the migrants had died, it is alleged he fled Belgium and initially went to Germany before moving to the UK.

The suspect, who was located by NCA officers at an address in the Redditch area of Worcestershire, was apprehended on the evening of December 15 2020 on a European Arrest Warrant issued by a Belgian investigating judge.


He spoke through an interpreter at the court on Wednesday afternoon via video link from HMP Wandsworth and gave only his name and alleged date of birth.

The defendant gave his age as 17 but there is a dispute over its accuracy, with previously recorded dates ranging from February 15 2003 to the same date in 1992.

Reporting restrictions were initially in place prohibiting his name being mentioned, but District Judge McGarva told reporters they have a "free hand" in identifying him as the order had expired.

Mr McGarva adjourned proceedings until February 8.

De Zich Noemende Tai was denied bail and was remanded in custody ahead of a final hearing on March 12 to determine whether he should be extradited to Belgium.

Eight people have been convicted in Britain over their role in the people-smuggling operation, including four men who are facing possible life sentences for manslaughter and will appear next at the Old Bailey on January 22.

 

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Mr Judge Sweeney explains the sentencing will be delayed until 2pm today due to amended sentencing remarks. Back at 2pm.

https://mobile.twitter.com/JEMilneSky/status/1352581539461271555

 

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Some new developments in relation to the Thomas Maher case.

Healthcare worker was moving €600,000 cash for haulage boss who trafficked drugs and guns for Irish gangs

 

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https://twitter.com/JEMilneSky/status/1352617837647581184

• Returning - the sentencing process will be in two parts to enable the 2 defendants who are next door to be brought into the court room where Mr Judge Sweeney has begun delivering his sentencing.
• The judge is detailing each of the defendants involvement in the "sophisticated, long running and profitable" conspiracy that was proved at trial and outlines the minimum and maximum sentences that can be awarded.
  
• Judge Sweeney details the events of the 22nd Oct 2019, describing the changing locations of the victims and the rising temperature inside the container as the journey progressed. Before the ship reached Purfleet "they all died in what must have been an excruciatingly slow death"
• Ronan Hughes is sentenced to 20 years in prison.
• Gheorge Nica is sentenced to 27 years in prison.
• Maurice Robinson is sentenced to 13 years and 4 months in prison.
• Eamonn Harrison is sentenced to 18 years imprisonment.
• Christopher Kennedy is sentenced to 7 years imprisonment.
• Judge Sweeney rises so the other defendants can be brought into the court room where they will be sentenced.
• Alexandru Hanga sentenced to 3 years imprisonment.
• Valentin Calota is sentenced to 4 and a half years imprisonment.
  
  

 

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Can't help feeling that this isn't justice for the level of suffering these people have caused.

Just heard on BBC News that all will only be serving two thirds of these sentences. Ronan Hughes would have got 30 years with a not guilty plea.

 

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Russell Tyner, of the CPS Organised Crime Division, said: “This is one of the largest manslaughter cases the CPS has ever prosecuted and we worked tirelessly to bring this complex case to court and see justice done for the 39 victims.

“After the horrific discovery of the bodies, many of these men fled because they knew what they had done.

“But we were able to use all of the legal powers and networks available to us to pursue them, bring them to the UK and see them face justice. That included meeting with prosecutors from the Netherlands and Germany, setting up a Joint Investigation Team with Belgium, France and later Ireland, as well as handling the extradition of Hughes, Nica and Harrison.

“By these manslaughter convictions, these men bear full responsibility for the tragic deaths of 39 people.

"They had placed their trust in this organised criminal network who were reckless in pursuit of their greed.

"Two of these men tried to claim that they did not know the number of people who had been put into the back of the lorry and said the deaths were not their fault.

"But we were able to prove that if you put people inside a sealed container, you are creating a risk of harm - whether it is 1 or 100 people."

The CPS is committed to working with law enforcement to identify and prosecute those that exploit and profit from trafficking.

Significant sums of money were made from this exploitation and the CPS will seek to work with police financial investigators to legally pursue any money that has been made, to ensure that no one profits from this horrific tragedy.

The CPS was also able to apply for an order to allow a witness to give evidence anonymously in a way that was still fair for the defence but protected him from the threat of violence.

Men sentenced for their parts in people-smuggling ring which left 39 dead | The Crown Prosecution Service

 

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Harrison, Hughes, Nica & Robinson

Calota, Hanga & Kennedy

 

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Kingpin Hughes hung his head as he was spared a life sentence.

Wearing a Nike jacket and jeans for his sentencing, Nica showed no emotion when he was jailed for 27 years imprisonment.

Harrison, who was convicted of the 39 counts by a majority of 10-1, nodded as he was jailed for 18 years.

Mr Justice Sweeney said the offences did not 'meet the criteria' for life sentences because it was possible the killers had not known there was a serious risk of death.

Essex lorry deaths: Four people smugglers jailed for 78 years total | Daily Mail Online

 

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Today, ringleaders of a people smuggling gang responsible for 39 Vietnamese deaths were convicted. Our
@itvnews
investigation found evidence of smuggling gangs still thriving in Vietnam. We spoke to one smuggler who offered routes into the UK this month

https://twitter.com/PeterAdamSmith/status/1352673762777452545

 

[CaptainNancy]

Can't help feeling that this isn't justice for the level of suffering these people have caused.

Just heard on BBC News that all will only be serving two thirds of these sentences. Ronan Hughes would have got 30 years with a not guilty plea.

I agree. RH’s sentence was reduced from 20 to 30 as a result of his guilty plea. But he used his Irish residence to evade questioning for months, appealed his extradition and obviously only pled guilty once it was clear that conviction was inevitable, and to reduce his sentence. Hardly assisting justice. And I wonder what he knows about the likely whereabouts or contact details for the missing senior organiser??
He also blackmailed EH, which in no way exonerates EH but IMHO was a terrible thing to do.
I would have put RH away for 30 years.

 

[Ironside]

Would Mo be jailed in England or could he go back to Northern Ireland?