Essex lorry deaths: Driver charged with manslaughter of 39 people

Maurice Robinson will appear before magistrates on Monday, police have said A lorry driver has been charged with the manslaughter of 39 people found dead inside a refrigerated trailer. Maurice Robinson, 25, was arrested after the bodies of 31 men and eight women were found in Grays on Wednesday. He is further charged with people trafficking, immigration and...

Essex lorry deaths: Appeal to Vietnamese over victims’ identities

The bodies were discovered in the early hours of Wednesday   Efforts to identify 39 bodies found inside a lorry are focusing on the Vietnamese community, police have said, as officers seek to establish whether a "wider conspiracy" was involved. Eight women and 31 men were discovered in Grays, Essex, on Wednesday. Det Ch Insp Martin Pasmore said he...

Essex lorry deaths: Vietnamese families fear relatives among dead

Pham Thi Tra My's brother said the family had arranged for £30,000 to be paid to smugglers At least six of the 39 people found dead in a lorry trailer in Essex may have been from Vietnam. The BBC knows of six Vietnamese families who fear their relatives are among the victims. They include Pham Thi Tra My,...

Essex lorry deaths: Two held on suspicion of manslaughter

The bodies were discovered in the early hours of Wednesday Two people have been arrested on suspicion of the manslaughter of 39 people found dead in a refrigerated lorry in Essex. The man and woman, both 38, from Warrington, Cheshire, were also held on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic. The BBC has spoken to the families of three...

Essex lorry deaths: How is a dead body identified?

The bodies were found in a lorry trailer in the early hours of Wednesday Post-mortem examinations are beginning of the 39 people who were found dead in a lorry container in Essex. How are people identified in such circumstances? The first step is to look for circumstantial evidence, says Dr Noemi Procopio, a lecturer in forensic science...

Essex lorry deaths: Dunkirk migrants ‘all scared of lorries’

People smugglers in northern France charge up to €10,000 (£8,640; $11,100) per person for passage to the UK Puythouck camp, in the woods near Dunkirk, is a place where you queue for everything, while waiting for only one thing: the chance to hide inside a lorry bound for the UK. Meanwhile, in this vast open-air waiting room,...

Essex lorry deaths: Channel 4 postpones Smuggled documentary

Channel 4's Smuggled followed members of the public as they tried to evade border checks Channel 4 has postponed the broadcast of a new documentary after 39 bodies were discovered in a lorry in Essex. Smuggled was set to follow eight members of the public as they tried to enter the UK from Europe by evading border...

Essex lorry deaths: 39 found dead were Chinese nationals

The 39 people found dead in a refrigerated trailer in Essex were Chinese nationals. Police have been granted an extra 24 hours to question lorry driver Mo Robinson, 25, on suspicion of murdering the eight women and 31 men. Three properties in Northern Ireland have been raided and the National Crime Agency is working to establish if...

Essex lorry deaths: What security is at UK’s ports?

Police are working to identify the bodies of 39 people found in a lorry in Essex. It is thought the vehicle came into the UK from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, a known route for people smuggling. Why are some ports unmanned? The lorry container in which the bodies were discovered arrived in the UK through the port of Purfleet,...

Essex lorry deaths: How are lorries checked for concealed migrants?

The bodies were discovered in the back of a lorry on the Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays on Wednesday As police continue to investigate the deaths of 39 Chinese nationals found in a lorry container in Essex, questions have been raised about how trailers arrive in the UK and what checks border officials carry out to...