UK Truck Death toll: Another Human Trafficker Sentenced

SGGPO 07/12/2023 09:51

The Old Bailey has sentenced Romanian Marius Draghici to 12 years and 7 months in prison for the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese people in a lorry in Essex in 2019.

Subject Marius Mihai Draghici. Photo: PA

After fleeing the UK, Marius Mihai Draghici (50) was arrested by Romanian police in August last year and extradited back to the UK. Last month, Draghici pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to 39 counts of manslaughter and conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.

The closed lorry carrying 39 victims. Photo: PA

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones said Draghici was involved in a sophisticated, long-term and highly profitable conspiracy to smuggle migrants into the UK by transporting them in the back of a lorry, deliberately breaching border controls. Draghici was not only responsible for transporting migrants to the UK, but was also the right-hand man of Romanian Nica, one of the ringleaders. In addition to the sentence, Draghici was also sentenced to four years and two months in prison for illegal immigration, which will run concurrently.

In October 2019, 39 Vietnamese victims died in a sealed truck container while being transported by ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium to the town of Purfleet in Essex, eastern England.

By 2021, four members of the human trafficking ring had been sentenced to between 13 and 27 years in prison for manslaughter, including: Ringleader Gheorghe Nica, 46, of Essex; Ronan Hughes, 43, and Maurice Robinson, 28, of Armagh, Northern Ireland; and Eamonn Harrison, 26, of County Down, Northern Ireland.

Belgium has also convicted 19 people in a human trafficking ring involved in the case.

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/vu-39-nan-nhan-tu-vong-trong-thung-xe-tai-o-anh-them-mot-doi-tuong-buon-nguoi-bi-ket-an-post697063.html