Mo Robinson admits 39 manslaughter charges

Maurice - also known as Mo - Robinson pleaded guilty to 39 counts of manslaughter during an Old Bailey hearing in London.

The charges came after 39 people were found dead in the back of a refrigerated truck.

Emergency services made the gruesome discovery on October 23 last year

The bodies of the Vietnamese nationals were discovered at an industrial estate in Grays, Essex, shortly after the lorry arrived from Zeebrugge in Belgium.

Among the dead were 10 teenagers, two of them 15-year-old boys.

Five men charged following an investigation by Essex Police appeared for a remote hearing at the Old Bailey before Mr Justice Sweeney.

Maurice Robinson, 25, of Craigavon, had previously admitted conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and acquiring criminal property.

During the hearing on Wednesday, the truck driver also admitted 39 counts of manslaughter on or before October 24 last year. He denied a charge of transferring criminal property.

Robinson appeared at court via video link alongside four other co-defendants.

Gheorghe Nica, 43, of Mimosa Close in Langdon Hills, denied 39 counts of manslaughter. He also denied one count of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration between May 1, 2018 and October 24, 2019.

Romanian national Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, 27, of Hobart Road in Tilbury, denied a charge of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.

Christopher Kennedy, 23, of Corkley Road in Darkley, Co Armagh, has previously denied conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration

Valentin Calota, 37, of Cossington Road in Birmingham, was not asked to enter a plea to the charge of conspiring to assist unlawful immigration.

Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones QC said a human trafficking conspiracy charge was being dropped in relation to Kennedy and Robinson.

He asked for three weeks to decide whether to proceed with a trial against Robinson on the outstanding charge he faced.

The other defendants face a trial at the Old Bailey, starting October 5.

The hearing was conducted remotely with most lawyers and court reporters attending by Skype.

Last month an inquest into the tragic deaths was opened and a coroner offered his sympathies to the families.

The names of the deceased were read aloud during the hearing at Essex coroner’s court.

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