LONDON (Reuters) – Four men were sentenced to long prison terms on Friday for killing 39 Vietnamese men, women and children who were strangled to death in a stifling, airtight shipping container in October 2019 while they were smuggled into the UK.
The discovery of so many dead – two 15-year-olds – behind the truck in an industrial area of east London shocked Britain and Vietnam. He also drew attention to illicit world trade that sends the poor from Asia, Africa and the Middle East on dangerous journeys to the West.
As oxygen levels dropped, some desperately tried to escape, but in vain. Others used cell phones to say their last goodbyes to devastated relatives on the other side of the world.
Judge Nigel Sweeney said he suffered a “painful slow death” as he jailed seven men involved in human trafficking for a total of 92 years at Old Bailey Criminal Court in London.
He said it was a sophisticated, long-term and profitable scheme that would have offset the hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The four who pleaded guilty or were found guilty of homicide and immigration offenses were 41-year-old carrier Ronan Hughes of Northern Ireland, the leader of the plot that has been closed for 20 years, and Romanian Gheorghe Nica, 44. years, another important figure, who was sentenced to 27 years behind bars.
Maurice Robinson, 26, the Northern Irish driver of the truck in which the bodies were found, was jailed for 13 years, while Eamonn Harrison, 24, also from the British province, led the container to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge from where the victims were taken to the UK, received an 18-year sentence.
Most of those who died came from Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces in north-central Vietnam, where poor job prospects, environmental disasters and the promise of financial reward abroad fuel migration.
British police have paid tribute to the relatives of those who died, including the parents of 15-year-old football fan Nguyen Huy Hung.
“She always dreamed of going to the UK and tried hard to study at school as well as learn English for that purpose,” they said.
Reporting by Michael Holden; edited by James Davey and Angus MacSwan