{"id":17983,"date":"2020-12-21T14:18:34","date_gmt":"2020-12-21T19:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=17983"},"modified":"2020-12-21T14:20:37","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T19:20:37","slug":"essex-lorry-deaths-two-found-guilty-of-killing-39-migrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2020\/12\/21\/essex-lorry-deaths-two-found-guilty-of-killing-39-migrants\/","title":{"rendered":"Essex lorry deaths: Two found guilty of killing 39 migrants"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Two men have been found guilty of the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese migrants found dead in a lorry trailer in Essex.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The migrants suffocated in the sealed container en route from Zeebrugge to Purfleet in October 2019.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Eamonn Harrison, 24, who dropped off the trailer at the Belgian port, and people-smuggler Gheorghe Nica, 43, were convicted by an Old Bailey jury.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Two others were convicted of being part of a wider people-smuggling conspiracy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"From<\/span><\/div>
The 39 people who died in the back of a trailer as it crossed the North Sea between Zeebrugge and the UK<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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The trial examined three smuggling attempts by the gang – two that were successful on 11 and 18 October, and the final trip on 23 October.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Lorry driver Christopher Kennedy, 24, from County Armagh, collected the trailers from Purfleet on the earlier two runs, claiming he thought he was transporting cigarettes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But the jury found Kennedy and Valentin Calota, 38, of Birmingham, guilty of conspiring to assist illegal immigration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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During the trial, jurors were given a snapshot of the victims – who included a bricklayer, a university graduate and a nailbar technician – and their dreams of a better life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Many of their families borrowed heavily to fund their passage, relying on their potential future earnings once they got into the UK.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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