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Agence France-Presse

A British truck driver on Wednesday pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 39 people found dead in a refrigerated truck in southeast England.
Northern Ireland man Maurice Robinson, 25, was arrested soon after the bodies of 31 men and eight women from Vietnam were discovered in the truck in an industrial zone in Grays, east of London, in October.
The truck arrived on a ferry from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge in the early hours of October 23, carrying the victims, who included two 15-year-old boys.
They died from lack of oxygen and overheating, according to postmortem examinations.


Police charged five men, who appeared at a virtual hearing via Skype at the Old Bailey on Wednesday.
Robinson had already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and acquiring criminal property.
British Romanian Gheorghe Nica, 43, denied 39 counts of manslaughter while Romanian national Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, 27, denied a charge of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.
Northern Ireland man Christopher Kennedy, 23, has previously denied conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration while Valentin Calota, 37, was not asked to enter a plea to the charge of conspiring to assist unlawful immigration.
Why are so many Chinese and Vietnamese being trafficked to the UK?
Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones told the court that human trafficking conspiracy charges were being dropped against Kennedy and Robinson.
Migrants can pay smugglers up to US$40,000 for the dangerous journey, an enormous sum in Vietnam, where the annual per capital income is around US$2,400, according to the World Bank.


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UK Vietnamese truck deaths: People-smuggler jailed for nearly four years over 2019 deaths of 39 victims

UK truck deaths

British truck driver pleads guilty in deaths of 39 Vietnamese

A Northern Ireland man pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 39 people found dead in a refrigerated truck in southeast England. Photo: AFP

UK truck deaths: families of missing Vietnamese migrants stuck with crippling debt

Nguyen Dinh Gia (right), father of Nguyen Dinh Luong, one of the suspected truck death victims, is embraced by a friend at his home in Ha Tinh province, Vietnam, on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Hoang Lanh, father of 18-year old Hoang Van Tiep who is feared to be among the 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain, looks at his son's photograph on his phone at their house in Dien Thinh commune of Vietnam's Nghe An province on October 28, 2019. - Vietnamese officials collected DNA samples on October 27 from relatives of those feared among 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain, a security source and a family member told AFP, as villagers held emotional prayers for the victims. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP)

A handout photo made available by Essex Police in London on October 29, 2019, shows Christopher Hughes (L) and his brother Ronan Hughes, who are being sought in connection with the discovery of the 39 Vietnamese bodies found in a truck in Grays on October 23. - British police probing the deaths of 39 people in a truck said Tuesday they want to question two Northern Irish brothers on suspicion of manslaughter and human trafficking. Essex Police, which is investigating last week's disaster, said they wanted to speak to Ronan Hughes, 40, and his 34-year-old brother Christopher, who are both from Armagh. Eight women and 31 men were found Wednesday in a refrigeration truck trailer that entered Britain on a ferry from Belgium. Several Vietnamese families fear their relatives are among the dead. (Photo by HO / Essex Police / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / ESSEX POLICE " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Tran Thi Hien (C), mother of Bui Thi Nhung, who is feared to be among the 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain, is consoled inside her house in Vietnam's Nghe An province on October 26, 2019. - A photo of her missing daughter Bui Thi Nhung, an offering of fruit and a bouquet of flowers -- a makeshift shrine laid by a desperate mother in a remote Vietnamese town many fear was home to some of the 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain. More than 20 Vietnamese are feared to be among the bodies found in a refrigerated trailer in an industrial park in Essex east of London on October 23. (Photo by NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)

All 39 bodies of UK truck victims have now arrived back home in Vietnam

Officials at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam, move coffins containing the bodies the victims found dead in a refrigerated truck in Britain. Photo: EPA-EFE

Relatives and villagers of John Hoang Van Tiep and John Nguyen Van Hung, victims who were found dead in the back of a British truck last month, attend their funeral at the village in Nghe An province, Vietnam November 28, 2019. REUTERS/Kham

Relatives of Anna Bui Thi Nhung, one of the 39 Vietnamese people found dead in a truck near London last month, cry next to her coffin during the funeral ceremony at their home in Nghe An province, Vietnam November 30, 2019. REUTERS/Kham

Vietnam makes arrests as it cracks down on people smuggling after UK truck deaths

A portrait of 20-year-old Nguyen Dinh Luong, who is feared to be among the 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain, is kept on a prayer altar at his house in Vietnam's Ha Tinh province. Vietnamese police are cracking down on people smuggling. Photo: AFP

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Northern Ireland’s Maurice Robinson pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges at a London court
The bodies of 31 men and eight women were discovered in the truck in an industrial zone in Grays, east of London, in October



Northern Ireland’s Maurice Robinson pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges at a London court.


British truck driver pleads guilty in deaths of 39 Vietnamese

Northern Ireland’s Maurice Robinson pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges at a London court The bodies of 31 men and eight women were discovered in the truck in an industrial zone in Grays, east of London, in October

Northern Ireland’s Maurice Robinson pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges at a London court

The bodies of 31 men and eight women were discovered in the truck in an industrial zone in Grays, east of London, in October