Vietnamese lorry deaths jury still sits despite Tier 4 lockdown

A jury in the trial of alleged people-smugglers linked to the deaths of 39 migrants has been given a majority direction.
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The Vietnamese migrants, aged between 15 and 44, were found dead in the back of a trailer in Essex on October 23 last year.

Alleged key organiser Gheorghe Nica, 43, from Basildon, Essex, and lorry driver Eamonn Harrison, 24, from County Down, have denied 39 counts of manslaughter.

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Harrison, Christopher Kennedy, 24, from County Armagh, and Valentin Calota, 38, from Birmingham, have pleaded not guilty to being part of a people-smuggling conspiracy.

Bodies of Vietnamese migrants were found inside the lorry.Bodies of Vietnamese migrants were found inside the lorry.
Bodies of Vietnamese migrants were found inside the lorry.

Nica has admitted a limited role but denied involvement in the fatal run.

The jury of 11 men and women began a fifth day of deliberations on Monday.

Before sending them out, Mr Justice Sweeney told them that he would accept verdicts on which at least 10 of them were agreed.

He also told them that as London was now in Tier 4, they remained key workers and would carry on.