Case of 39 Vietnamese bodies in the UK: the criminal case is not over yet

After being extradited from Northern Ireland to England, Eamonn Harrison, the main suspect in the case of 39 Vietnamese bodies found in the freezer of a truck in Britain last year, appeared today in Old Baily Criminal Court in London. August 28, 2020.

In front of the Old Bailey Criminal Court, London, on the afternoon of August 28, Eamonn Harrison denied “involuntary manslaughter” and “conspiracy to support illegal immigration.”

He will go to court with three other defendants next time in October this year.

Another Irish defendant, Ronan Hughes, pleaded guilty to similar charges during his trial on Friday afternoon on August 28, 2020 in London.

The human trafficking case that resulted in the tragic death of 39 Vietnamese citizens in Essex, East London at the end of October 2019 has shocked public opinion in Britain, Vietnam and European countries.

After a lengthy and costly investigation, Essex County Police, UK, confirmed that victims of the human trafficking line “suffocated from lack of oxygen in an overheated container” on their way from Belgium to the port of Purfleet. . Essex.

In response to Vietnamese BBC News on August 28 from Ho Chi Minh City, where he works, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Oanh, brother of victim Nguyen Dinh Luong, one of the 39 people who died, said that he ‘forgive the perpetrators’.

“I hope my family forgives them too. In life, we all make mistakes, so they don’t want anyone to be condemned,” Oanh said.

Mr. Oanh said that his family is still in pain, but still, they will have to take care of life.

Nguyen Dinh Luong and Pham Thi Tra My are the first two victims of the 39 bodies, whose names and images have been determined by the BBC and British newspapers when the incident occurred.

Having been to Russia and Ukraine in 2017 and then found his way to France to live before moving to the UK, Nguyen Dinh Luong died at the age of 22 after losing contact with his family on October 23, 2019.

Even that week, the BBC also checked with Pham Thi Tra My’s family in the town of Nghèn, Can Loc, Ha Tinh.

In July, Eamonn Harrison, 23, of Mayobridge, County Down, Northern Ireland, was extradited to Britain to face 39 counts of manslaughter, along with human trafficking conspiracy and conspiracy to support immigration. permitted.

Soon after, Harrison appeared in a district court in Southend, east London.

That trial was carried out using video for the translation of Covid-19 in the UK.

It is alleged that he drove the car in the section where the container was transporting 39 Vietnamese people into the port of Zeebrugge, Belgium, to be transferred by ship to England.

In this case, truck driver Maurice Robinson, from Craigavon, County Armagh, was also taken to the Old Bailey British Criminal Court in London, which specializes in trial cases, in November 2019. Here, Robinson admits to participating in a conspiracy to support illegal immigration and the acquisition of real estate due to crime.

Maurice Robinson was the one who drove the Scania truck to receive the frozen container to a stop in a warehouse area in Essex and saw Vietnamese corpses when he opened the trunk.

Another defendant, Christopher Kennedy, 23, of Darkley, County Armagh, did not accept charges of conspiracy to traffic in persons, aid in trespassing and facilitate the movement of others to exploit the exploitation. peeling of objects.

Gheorghe Nica, 43, of Mimosa Close in Langdon Hills, Essex, is also in court at the Old Bailey on March 16.

The 22-year-old was arrested in Northern Ireland on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter and illegal immigration assistance. After being transferred to England, he was arrested in Essex.