[ad_1]
A jury showed gruesome footage showing steam pouring out of the container in which dozens of Vietnamese migrants suffocated to death in temperatures above 100 degrees.
26-year-old truck driver Maurice Robinson can be seen approaching the right rear door of his truck and opening it.
As he slowly opens the door, steam from the deceased’s bodies gushes out and he takes a step back.
Robinson had stopped at Eastern Avenue, Grays, Essex, at 1.13am on October 23 after he had picked up the truck in Purfleet.
It was only after 23 minutes that Robinson called the police in a panic.
Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones said Robinson made two calls to carrier Ronan Hughes, who had previously instructed him to “give them air quickly.” Don’t let them out. ‘
Robinson dialed 999 at 1.36 a.m.
Trailer in which 39 Vietnamese suffocated, was removed from the ship in the port of Purfleet
Truck driver Maurice Robinson (pictured), 26, has already admitted 39 counts of manslaughter.
On the court an emergency call was played by Robinson in which he said: ‘They are all lying on the ground’.
The operator asked: ‘Are they breathing?’
Robinson: ‘No, I don’t think so. I heard a noise in the back, so I opened the door. ‘
Operator: ‘How many patients?’
Robinson: ‘About 25’.
Operator: ‘And they are not breathing?’
Robinson: ‘No.’
Jurors were shown a screenshot of Robinson’s phone, which had picked up the trailer from Purfleet Harbor.
CCTV footage transmitted to the jury showed large amounts of steam escaping from the rear of the trailer when Robinson opened the doors shortly before calling emergency services.
The prosecutor said it was a photograph of a text exchange he had on Snapchat with someone with the username RHughes301.
It said: ‘Give them air quickly. Don’t let them out. Robinson responded with a thumbs-up emoji, the prosecutor said.
Jurors were told that the exchange occurred sometime between midnight and 1:20 a.m.
The Old Bailey has heard that dying victims wrote desperate text messages to their families when the air ran out and the temperature rose to 101.3F.
Jurors were told that the MV Clementine ferry left Belgian port at 4pm UK time for a journey that lasted more than eight hours.
At 6.25pm, a young Vietnamese woman took a series of selfies on her phone that showed the sweltering conditions inside.
For the next two hours, the occupants tried to make phone calls, and one called the emergency number of the Vietnamese police, without success.
In a recorded message to his family, Nguyen Tho Tuan, 25, said: ‘I’m sorry. I can’t take care of you. Sorry. Sorry. I can’t breathe.
‘I want to go back to my family. Have a good life. ‘
In another mobile phone recording at 20:02, Nguyen Dinh Luong, 20, said: ‘I can’t breathe. Sorry, I have to go now.’
In the background a voice could be heard saying: ‘Let’s all go. Open, open.
In another phone recording two minutes later, the same victim said: ‘I’m sorry. Everything is my fault.’
A voice in the background then says, ‘He’s dead.’
Nguyen Huy Hung (left), 15, was the youngest, while Nguyen Dinh Lurong (right), 20, also died
Pham Tra My (left and right) 26, was among 39 people who died in the truck in Grays, Essex
Freight operator Jason Rook said in a statement that he smelled a “rotting smell” while unloading the trailer.
The prosecutor said the temperature inside the trailer peaked at 101.3F sometime after 9 p.m.
Jurors heard that between 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. the carbon dioxide (CO2) inside the trailer had reached its toxic threshold, although the prosecutor said no evidence had been agreed upon and that the jury would hear witnesses. .
Eamonn Harrison, 23, of Mayobridge, County Down, allegedly drove the trailer to the Zeebrugge ferry port.
He denies 39 counts of involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy to aid illegal immigration.
In October last year, men, women and children, ages 15 to 44, were found dead in the trailer.
Eamonn Harrison (right), 23, of County Down, who had left the trailer in Zeebrugge, has denied 39 counts of involuntary manslaughter along with alleged key organizer Gheorghe Nica (left), 43, of Basildon.
Gheorghe Nica, 43, of Basildon, Essex, denies 39 counts of manslaughter, but has admitted conspiracy to aid illegal immigration.
Valentin Calota, 37, of Birmingham, and Christopher Kennedy, 23, of Darkley, Co Armagh, Northern Ireland, deny the conspiracy to aid illegal immigration.
Robinson, of Craigavon, County Armagh, has admitted to involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy to aid illegal immigration and acquisition of criminal property.
Ronan Hughes, 40, of Leitrim, Silverstream, Tyholland, Co Monaghan, has admitted murder and conspiracy to aid illegal immigration.
The trial continues.
