Essex lorry deaths: Man charged with immigration offence

The bodies of 39 Vietnamese nationals were discovered in a refrigerated trailer

A man has been charged with an immigration offence over the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants whose bodies were found in a lorry in Essex.

The 31 males and eight women were discovered in a refrigerated trailer in Grays on 23 October.

Valentin Calota, 37, of Cossington Road in Birmingham, will appear at Basildon Magistrates' Court later.

He has been charged with conspiring to facilitate a breach of UK immigration law.

Pham Thi Tra My, 26, and Nguyen Dinh Luong, 20, were among the victims

Several people have been arrested in connection with the deaths and an alleged people-trafficking ring, including the lorry driver Maurice Robinson, of Craigavon, County Armagh.

At the Old Bailey in November, he admitted conspiring to assist illegal immigration and acquiring criminal property.

He has not yet entered pleas to 39 counts of manslaughter or charges of conspiracy to commit human trafficking and transferring criminal property.

Four other men have also been charged by the police in the UK in relation to the deaths while Vietnamese investigators have put charges to seven people.

Last month Essex Police revealed a preliminary cause of death had been given as a combination of suffocation and overheating in an enclosed space.