More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Five men will appear in court charged over the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants found inside a refrigerated trailer near the Dartford Crossing.
The victims were discovered inside a container which travelled from Europe to Grays, Essex on Wednesday, October 23.
Five men have since been charged in connection with the deaths and will appear by web link at the Old Bailey tomorrow.
Among them is Northern Ireland national Maurice Robinson, of Craigavon, whose is accused of 39 counts of manslaughter, transferring criminal property and conspiracy to commit a human trafficking offence.
The 25 year-old has previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration at the same court on Monday, November 25.
Another man has been charged with with conspiracy to arrange or facilitate the travel of people with a view to exploitation and conspiracy to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law.
A third man will face 39 counts of manslaughter and one count of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.
And a fourth and fifth have both been charged with conspiring to do an act to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law by a non-EU person between May 1 2018 and October 24 2019.
In February it was revealed that provisional investigations showed the Vietnamese migrants died as a result of overheating.
The bodies, which included a 15-year-old boy, were found in a trailer in Grays in October and were initially thought to be those of Chinese citizens.
They were flown home to Vietnam the following month as police offered condolences and pressed ahead with their investigations.
