A lorry driver is due to appear in court charged over the deaths of 39 people found in a refrigerated trailer in Essex.
The 25 year old, Maurice Robinson, from Northern Ireland, is due to appear via videolink at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Monday. Robinson is being charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and money laundering.
Another driver who brought the container to Zeebrugge before it crossed the English Channel was arrested at the port of Dublin on Saturday.
According to Essex police, the man was another “person of interest”.
“We are liaising with the Garda via telephone as this man is currently held outside the jurisdiction of the law of England and Wales,” a spokesman said. Three other people arrested in connection with the deaths were released on bail on Sunday.
The bodies were discovered in the early hours of Wednesday.
Some of the victims are said to have paid thousands of pounds to travel to UK “safely”, where they would be able to carry out work that would give them money to send home to their families.
Reports state that the UK government has sent documents to Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security in a further attempt to identify some of the victims.
