Essex lorry deaths: Juror's sister with Covid stalls trial

The bodies of 39 Vietnamese nationals were discovered in a refrigerated trailer on 23 October last year

The trial relating to the deaths of 39 Vietnamese people in a lorry container has been stalled for second time over Covid-19 fears.

The bodies were found at Grays, Essex, on 23 October last year.

A juror was absent from the Old Bailey after her sister tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday.

The judge sent the rest of the jury home and advised them to self-isolate while the juror waits for the results of her Covid-19 test.

Mr Justice Sweeney told them: "Obviously one of your number is missing and the position is this morning she has been tracked and traced and has taken a test. We do not yet have the result of the test.

"The contact that she had was with her sister, who she saw last Monday and also she saw again on Saturday, with the sister testing positive later on Saturday.

"It follows that at the moment there is a risk that having had contact with the sister on Monday, she may have brought the results of that contact to court on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday."

The judge said no decision could be taken on the trial until the result of the juror's test was known.

Mr Justice Sweeney also "strongly" suggested jurors considered self-isolating until the test result returned.

Earlier in the trial, the case was adjourned while the first prosecution witness, a police analyst, waited for a Covid-19 test, which later proved negative.

Lorry driver Eamonn Harrison, 23, of Mayobridge, County Down, and Gheorghe Nica, 43, of Basildon, Essex, deny manslaughter.

Mr Harrison, together with another lorry driver, Christopher Kennedy, 24, of County Armagh, and Valentin Calota, 37, of Birmingham, deny being part of a people-smuggling conspiracy.