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

[Silverlink]

Here's the full recording of him being sentenced

 

[CaptainNancy]

Interesting. I have never seen a full recording from court like that.

I had thought Draghici did have a bigger, more masterminding role.

Interesting what was said about not understanding the court process: though none of them deserve a jot of sympathy I thought that Harrison’s sentence was relatively high compared with Hughes. Given that Hughes had a coercive relationship with Harrison following the crashed lorry in Germany and Harrison’s learning difficulty etc. But Harrison also said he had not understood aspects of the charge (manslaughter) and had plead not guilty - which resulted in his sentence not being reduced. If I remember rightly. Whereas Hughes, who had done all he could to avoid extradition and even being brought to court, did eventually plead guilty.

Anyway, another credit to the work of Essex Police.

Gormley still scheduled for trial?

 

[Silverlink]

Interesting. I have never seen a full recording from court like that.

I had thought Draghici did have a bigger, more masterminding role.

Interesting what was said about not understanding the court process: though none of them deserve a jot of sympathy I thought that Harrison’s sentence was relatively high compared with Hughes. Given that Hughes had a coercive relationship with Harrison following the crashed lorry in Germany and Harrison’s learning difficulty etc. But Harrison also said he had not understood aspects of the charge (manslaughter) and had plead not guilty - which resulted in his sentence not being reduced. If I remember rightly. Whereas Hughes, who had done all he could to avoid extradition and even being brought to court, did eventually plead guilty.

Anyway, another credit to the work of Essex Police.

Gormley still scheduled for trial?

It's all based on guilty/not guilty pleas, Hughes would have got 30 years if he pleaded not guilty. Harrison understood the charges, he clearly knew that knowingly transporting the migrants to the ferry made him culpable and he would have to try and make the case that he was unaware that he was transporting people to get away with with the manslaughter charges, hence him arguing that Hughes told him he was transporting stolen lorry parts.

Gormley's trial starts in November.

 

[CaptainNancy]

Yes - I wondered if it would change as it was due to be at the same time as Draghici and they will now presumably need less time. Also as he is on unconditional bail and is facing charges of immigration offences (conspiracy to assist) rather than manslaughter they might need a shorter slot and fit it in at another date. We will have to wait and see.

 

[Silverlink]

Mo's lorry is up for auction. States 'certificate of destruction required' so looks like it's for a breaker only.

https://www.wilsonsauctions.com/timed-auction/listings/lot?salecode=OM2122&listingid=06c1346c-a455-4ecb-8f05-0ffd86d70f59&altCurrency=£&bundleoverview=false&fbclid=IwAR2nfFiYn7DrcOvZBoOTxVAPpUbAAWx10l3YfUTtiDvMzmVNz8GAf8zoXII

 

[CaptainNancy]

New link

 

[CaptainNancy]

How grim.

 

[CaptainNancy]

Reported by the BBC and other mainstream news. Essex lorry deaths: Cab being auctioned for families

"In a joint statement, Wilson Auctions Ltd and Ch Supt Stuart Hooper of Essex police said the money raised from the sale of the lorry cab would be divided among the families of the victims.
Mark Woods, of Wilsons Auctions Ltd, said the vehicle would be "sold to the highest bidder in a closed auction where only vetted Authorised Treatment Facilities who are registered with the Environment Agency can bid".
"It will be broken into parts for recycling and will not return to the road," he added.
"All money generated from the auction will be sent to the 39 Vietnamese victims' families.
Ch Supt Hooper said Essex Police had "dealt with the investigation into the deaths of the 39 Vietnamese victims who tragically lost their lives in a highly professional manner, showing dignity and respect to both the victims and their families".
"It was a complex case which gained national and international media attention, but throughout the investigation and court trials, our priority has been, and remains, treating the victims with respect and sensitively offering their families support, to ensure they do not suffer further."

Essex lorry deaths : Cab driven by Mo Robinson to be sold at auction with proceeds given to families of 39 victims

A lorry cab used to transport a trailer in which 39 Vietnamese migrants died is to be auctioned off for parts with proceeds going to victims' families.

www.irishnews.com

"A spokesperson for Essex Police, which seized the lorry cab in 2019, said: “We have tried to manage the disposal of the lorry cab in an appropriate way, whilst recognising the independence and authority of the courts, their decisions and processes.” "
"

 

[Silverlink]

A ringleader behind an operation that killed 39 Vietnamese migrants in a lorry in Essex made at least £90,000 from people smuggling, a court heard.

Gheorghe Nica has already been jailed for 27 years for the manslaughter of men, women and children found in a container in Grays in October 2019.

Nica, of Basildon, Essex, was one of 11 people convicted over their deaths.

At a confiscation hearing at the Old Bailey, the 46-year-old denied having "money hidden away".

Essex lorry deaths: Ringleader who killed 39 migrants 'made £90k'

Prosecutors want to confiscate ill-gotten cash from one of the men behind the 39 deaths in Essex.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Silverlink]

Four years ago, the bodies of 39 Vietnamese nationals were found in an airtight container on the back of a lorry. For the first time, those involved in the investigation tell how tattoos, fingerprints and hidden telephone numbers helped them piece together the identities of the victims.

How were the 39 people killed in the Essex lorry case identified?

How tattoos, fingerprints and hidden numbers helped identify the Essex lorry victims.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[CaptainNancy]

Four years ago, the bodies of 39 Vietnamese nationals were found in an airtight container on the back of a lorry. For the first time, those involved in the investigation tell how tattoos, fingerprints and hidden telephone numbers helped them piece together the identities of the victims.

How were the 39 people killed in the Essex lorry case identified?

How tattoos, fingerprints and hidden numbers helped identify the Essex lorry victims.

www.bbc.co.uk

Very moving.
Another aspect of the immense work that Essex Police and others put into this.
And a reminder of the victims at the heart of this greedy vicious trade in human beings.
No prison sentence, no amount of confiscated goods can ever compensate.
Well done Essex Police.
RIP 39 Vietnamese victims.

 

[CaptainNancy]

The trial of Gormley is due to start on Monday 6th Nov I think? At the Old Bailey.Is there a way to find out if this will be the case?

 

[CaptainNancy]

Gormley’s trial is listed for Court 1, Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) for tomorrow.

 

[Ched]

Essex lorry deaths were linked to haulier, Old Bailey hears

Caolan Gormley, 26, is alleged to have been involved with a network smuggling migrants into the UK.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[CaptainNancy]

Meanwhile in France:
French court convicts 18 people for roles in Essex lorry deaths | France | The Guardian

“A French court has handed down jail sentences of up to 10 years in a people-smuggling trial over the deaths of 39 Vietnamese people who suffocated in a sealed refrigeration container as they were transported across the Channel from France…..
Of the 19 defendants in the French trial – who include Vietnamese, French, Chinese, Algerian and Moroccan nationals – 18 were found guilty.
Four of them, all Vietnamese, were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to nine or 10 years in prison.
Four other Vietnamese nationals, two of whom were absent and considered fugitives, were sentenced to between one and 10 years for their role in transporting and housing the migrants.
The others, drivers or owners of apartments working with the gang, were sentenced to suspended jail terms.
One defendant, a driver, was cleared of all charges.
According to phone intercepts, the group referred to the people they were transporting as “goods” or “chickens”. “

 

[CaptainNancy]

Tyrone haulage boss on trial over people-smuggling ring linked to 39 deaths

“We will also hear something of a subsequent journey, a journey that would have a tragic, fatal ending for the 39 migrants inside the lorry. There is no evidence to suggest that this defendant was directly involved with that operation.

““That is fortunate so far as he is concerned because what the evidence will reveal is that he had close dealings with those who were both before and, we say significantly, after it had taken place.
Gormley was an associate of Hughes and the boss of driver Christopher Kennedy, jurors were told.


Mr Holt said typical phone contact would be between Hughes and Gormley, who would then contact Kennedy.

Towards the end, Hughes and Kennedy were in direct contact using “dirty phones”, it was alleged.

The three trips alleged to have involved Gormley were overnight on October 10 to 11, the thwarted run of October 14 to 15 and October 18 to 19, just days before the tragedy…..

…That night, driver Maurice Robinson had collected the lorry container rather than Kennedy and found the migrants dead.

He contacted Hughes, who then tried to contact Gormley, “no doubt to relay the news of what had taken place”, Mr Holt said.

Gormley has accepted being in regular contact with Hughes over transport work but denies knowing it involved people smuggling.

Mr Holt said: “The height of criminality he was aware of was a scheme to bring alcohol into the UK in such a way that duty would be evaded.

“We say that cannot be right. We say that it is implausible that he would be cut out of such profitable business by his close associates.”

Gormley denies a single charge of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration. The trial continues.“

 

[CaptainNancy]

https://www.itv.com/news/utv/2023-1...-stop-mother-gossiping-over-deaths-court-told

“Gormley had worked for Hughes after he got his licence at the age of 19 and had been friends with Kennedy since college, the Old Bailey was told.
Giving evidence on Tuesday, Gormley told jurors that he thought they were engaged in smuggling alcohol rather than humans.He told of his “shock” and “total disbelief” when 39 Vietnamese men, women and children were found dead in one of Hughes’s vehicles in Essex early on October 23 2019.He said he saw the breaking news on social media then someone sent him a photograph of the truck and trailer on WhatsApp which he sent on to Kennedy.The defendant said he was taking a break at a truck stop in Sandbach, Cheshire, on his way to deliver racehorse bedding to Cambridge when he spoke to Hughes.Gormley said: “He called me the night before and I was returning the call. I remember when he answered he sounded different, panicked, making no sense at all. It was just mumbo jumbo. He was making zero sense.”At 3.46pm on October 23, Gormley received a text from his mother in Co Tyrone asking if the truck in the news belonged to one of Hughes’s brothers.He replied: “Don’t know and neither do u (sic).”
Asked to explain the message, Gormley said: “My mother works in a doctors’ surgery and is a bit of a gossip, and I didn’t want her gossiping. Perhaps there would be repercussions for her.”Defence barrister Stephan Alfred asked: “You thought it would be unsafe for her bandying names about?”Gormley replied: “I mean talking about that in general, you wouldn’t want people going around talking about it.”He added that he never heard anything bad about anyone in the Hughes family until the migrant deaths.Mr Alfred suggested the tragedy had sent a “shockwave through the industry”.Gormley said there was “total disbelief this had happened”, adding: “I was just shocked, to be honest.”On the evening of October 23, Gormley said he dumped the burner phone he had used to communicate with Hughes.He said: “I didn’t want any connection between me and Ronan Hughes. I was in the services on the Scottish-English border on the job around 10-11pm. I just disposed of it in the bin.”Gormley was asked why he had denied “to the bitter end” being the owner of that phone when interviewed by police.He said: “I lied about it because I didn’t want to confess a crime I had committed in relation to alcohol smuggling.“I had contacted Ronan Hughes on the phone. At that time the news had come out about what happened with the 39 dead and I didn’t want any affiliation with that.“Me and him and Christopher Kennedy were conspiring with alcohol but I wasn’t conspiring with immigrants. That was the exact reason why.”Gormley told jurors that he had agreed with Hughes to provide legitimate documents that could be doctored for illicit consignments of alcohol from Europe, and that Kennedy had collected some of it.The prosecution allege he was involved with three trips on October 11, 14 and 18 2019, and that they were all to do with smuggling people and not alcohol.Gormley was asked about a run which was scuppered on October 14 when Kennedy’s truck was found to contain migrants at the French border.He said: “Kennedy said he stopped at the supermarket to buy alcohol and cigarettes on his way to the crossing. At that time he was actually covering his tracks for what had happened.“He just said they must have got in the trailer while he was in the shop. It’s a very hot spot for migrants in the Calais area. It’s very common. I had no reason not to believe his account.”Kennedy told him there were five or six migrants found on board when he was stopped by French officials, the defendant said.The prosecution allege that some migrants from that failed trip on October 14 were believed to have died days later in the fatal run overnight on October 22-23.A consignment of biscuits from Belgium was ruined during the October 18 run, the court heard.Gormley said: “Kennedy called me up and told me the biscuits had been rejected. I just presumed damage.”Mr Alfred asked: “Were you in any way involved in an agreement to facilitate the entry of migrants to this country?Gormley replied: “No, not at all.” “

 

[CaptainNancy]

Nica’s payment to victims settled: People smuggler ordered to pay families £65,000 - BBC News

 

[CaptainNancy]

Gormley: Guilty.

Haulage boss guilty over 39 migrant lorry deaths - BBC News

“The jury heard Gormley, of Caledon, Co Tyrone, had "close dealings" with the traffickers overseeing the fatal trip.
He is the 11th defendant to be convicted in the UK in connection with the deaths and police described it as the "final guilty verdict".
Gormley is due to be sentenced on Friday….
…
Gormley was involved in three previous smuggling operations that month on the 11, 14 and 18 October but there was no evidence he was directly involved on the night of 22 October, police said.
The two-week trial heard he was an associate of one of the smuggling ringleaders, Ronan Hughes, who he had known since he was a teenager…,
..Gormley, who ran a small haulage business, passed on messages from Hughes to one of his own drivers, Christopher Kennedy, who was involved in transporting the trailers full of migrants.
Giving evidence in his defence, Gormley told jurors he was in "shock" and "total disbelief" when he heard the victims were dead.
He claimed that he believed he was only involved in smuggling illegal alcohol into the UK.
The jury deliberated for one hour and 15 minutes and Gormley was remanded in custody.
Det Ch Insp Louise Metcalfe, from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, described the conviction as the "final guilty verdict". “

Also Belfast Live:
NI lorry driver found guilty of people smuggling charge

 

[CaptainNancy]

Essex Police Statement : https://www.essex.police.uk/news/essex/news/news/2023/november/caolan-gromley-conviction/