Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Floral tributes left at the Waterglade Industrial Park last month. Stefan Rousseau/PA Images
people trafficking

Northern Irish man arrested by UK police in connection with 39 Essex lorry deaths

The man was arrested on the M40 motorway in Buckinghamshire.

A MAN FROM Northern Ireland has been arrested by UK police as part of investigations into the deaths of 39 people found dead in a trailer in Essex last month. 

The 23-year-old was arrested in the early hours of this morning in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic people and conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration. 

The man was arrested by officers from Thames Valley Police on the M40 motorway between London and Oxford on behalf of Essex Police and he remains in custody. 

All 39 people found dead in the back of the lorry last month have now been identified and are Vietnamese nationals.

The victims included 30 men, seven women and two boys aged 15 and 17. 

The trailer had arrived into the UK via a ferry from Zeebrugge, Belgium.

The driver of the lorry, Maurice Robinson (25), from Craigavon, Co Armagh, was arrested by Essex police at the scene and was subsequently charged with 39 counts of manslaughter. 

Other arrests have been made by gardaí as well as British and Vietnamese police.