Essex lorry deaths: Van driver 'misled' into people-smuggling

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

A van driver has told a court he was "misled" by an acquaintance into people-smuggling five days before 39 Vietnamese migrants were found dead.

Valentin Calota, 38, said he thought he was transporting cigarettes from Essex to London on 18 October 2019.

The Old Bailey heard the migrants in his van had made the same journey from Zeebrugge to Purfleet as those found dead in a trailer on 23 October.

Mr Calota, of Birmingham, denies being involved in a people-smuggling plot.

The migrants, aged 15 to 44, suffocated in a sealed trailer en route from Zeebrugge in Belgium to Purfleet

The Romanian haulier said his acquaintance, Gheorghe Nica, offered him £700 to transport cigarettes and he was unaware there were people in the van.

He told the court he was "angry" he had been duped by Nica.

"I'm angry with him. But more than that I'm angry with myself because the mistake that brought me here was mine," he said.

"I should not have accepted involvement in any smuggling of cigarettes. I should have minded my own business and I'm very sorry and apologetic."

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Mr Calota told the court he met Nica in a car park in Tilbury, Essex, picked up a van and then drove it to Orsett.

He said Nica told him to stay in the van and "look ahead" to "make sure nobody comes".

Mr Calota said he could hear noises when Nica went to the back of the van but he assumed the cigarettes were being loaded.

"As you can imagine I was nervous, I was looking ahead. My heart was beating very fast," he said.

Mr Calota said he did not dispute that there were people in the van but he was unaware at the time

The court heard Mr Calota was wearing a Bluetooth headset and listening to the radio on the journey from Essex to London.

He told the jury he did "not for one moment" think there were people onboard.

When he arrived in London, Nica told him again not to get out of the van and to look ahead, the court heard.

Mr Calota said: "I saw a number of people carrying holdalls on their shoulders. The holdalls looked square as if they are cartons of cigarettes.

"I thought that those cigarettes were being unloaded."

Victims' names were placed on a wall as part of a memorial shrine in Hackney on the first anniversary of their deaths

Mr Calota told the jury he thought it was a "mistake" when he was arrested in connection with the deaths of the 39 migrants.

He said he gave a no comment police interview as he feared for his family's safety if he was to "snitch to police".

Nica, 43, of Basildon, Essex and lorry driver Eamonn Harrison, 23, of County Down, deny 39 counts of manslaughter.

Mr Calota, Mr Harrison and lorry driver Christopher Kennedy, 24, of County Armagh, deny being involved in a people-smuggling plot, which Nica has admitted.

Irish haulier boss Ronan Hughes, 41, and lorry driver Maurice Robinson, 26, have previously admitted manslaughter.

The trial continues.