Essex lorry deaths: Suspect charged with manslaughter after migrants discovered in refrigerated trailer

Charge comes after driver Maurice Robinson pleads guilty to charges

Thirty-nine people were found dead in the lorry in Grays, Essex (PA)

A man has been charged with manslaughter after the bodies of 39 migrants were found in a refrigerated lorry trailer in Grays, Essex, last year.

The Vietnamese nationals were discovered in the container, which had been parked in an industrial estate on 23 October last year. Ten teenagers were among the dead, including two fifteen year old boys.

The deaths, which a coroner ruled were caused by suffocation and overheating, triggered an international manhunt to clamp down on those who may have been involved in the alleged trafficking of the deceased, who mostly originated from the Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces in north-central Vietnam.

Now Ronan Hughes, of Co Armagh in Northern Ireland, is due to appear at Dublin's High Court on Tuesday charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, as well as immigration offences, Essex Police said.

The 40-year-old was detained on Monday after authorities executed a European arrest warrant in Ireland.

It comes after 25-year old truck driver Maurice Robinson pleaded guilty to counts of 39 manslaughter at the Old Bailey in London, having already admitted to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and acquiring criminal property.

He is due to be sentenced at a later date.

Meanwhile, in February, Eamonn Harrison, of Mayobridge, Northern Ireland, was granted permission to appeal against his extradition to the UK under the terms of a European arrest warrant issued by Essex Police.

The 22-year-old is facing 39 manslaughter charges, one of human trafficking and one of assisting unlawful immigration.

A further hearing will be held in Dublin on Thursday May 7, Essex Police said.

Additional reporting by PA.