Lorry deaths accused’s boozy brush with police

A lorry driver had a brush with police during a boozy night out in Bruges days before he was allegedly involved in the deaths of 39 migrants.
By The Newsroom
Published 23rd Oct 2020, 14:49 BST
Updated 23rd Oct 2020, 15:02 BST
File photo dated 23/10/2019 of police and forensic officers at the Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, Essex, after 39 bodies of Vietnamese migrants were found inside the lorry on the industrial estate. Irish haulier Ronan Hughes is due to appear in court over their deaths, after he was extradited to the UK.File photo dated 23/10/2019 of police and forensic officers at the Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, Essex, after 39 bodies of Vietnamese migrants were found inside the lorry on the industrial estate. Irish haulier Ronan Hughes is due to appear in court over their deaths, after he was extradited to the UK.
File photo dated 23/10/2019 of police and forensic officers at the Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, Essex, after 39 bodies of Vietnamese migrants were found inside the lorry on the industrial estate. Irish haulier Ronan Hughes is due to appear in court over their deaths, after he was extradited to the UK.

Eamonn Harrison, 23, allegedly dropped off a trailer containing the Vietnamese migrants at the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium on October 22 last year.

Another lorry driver Maurice Robinson picked up the container at Purfleet in Essex the next morning and found the bodies of the men, women and children, the Old Bailey heard.

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Jurors heard that the victims, aged between 15 and 44, had suffocated in the sealed trailer in sweltering temperatures.

On Friday – the anniversary of the deaths – jurors were told Harrison had spent the evening of October 18 drinking in Bruges. He had dropped off a trailer at Zeebrugge the day before.

At 9.53pm he was stopped by police having been helped up by a member of the public, the court heard.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones said: “He was intoxicated and was making his way back to where he was staying in a taxi. The following day at 9.09am, Harrison again came to the attention of authorities.

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Mr Emlyn Jones said: “His trailer was parked illegally. On police attendance Harrison was inside the trailer changing his clothes. On request he moved the vehicle.”

Meanwhile, haulier boss Ronan Hughes, Robinson and alleged key organiser Gheorghe Nica were caught on CCTV at the Ibis Hotel in Thurrock, Essex, on the evening of October 18.

Jurors had previously heard that two successful people smuggling runs were carried out days before the tragic journey.

Hughes, 41, and Robinson, 26, have pleaded guilty to 39 counts of manslaughter. Nica, 43, of Basildon, and Harrison, of County Down, deny the charges. Harrison, lorry driver Christopher Kennedy, 24, of Co Armagh, Northern Ireland, and Valentin Calota, 37, of Birmingham, have denied being part of a wider people smuggling conspiracy, which Nica has admitted to.