Essex lorry deaths: Man extradited from Italy to UK

The 39 people who died in the back of a trailer as it crossed the North Sea between Zeebrugge and the UK

A man has been extradited to the UK in connection with the deaths of 39 migrants found in a trailer in Essex.

Dragos-Stefan Dalmian, 27, has been charged with conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence.

Extradited from Italy, he appeared at Colchester Magistrates' Court on Friday.

Meanwhile another man charged in connection with the case has been named as 18-year-old Alex Tran.

Mr Tran has claimed to be 17 and that Alex Tran is not his name. But Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday lifted the legal restriction against naming him.

The bodies of 39 Vietnamese nationals were discovered in a refrigerated trailer on 23 October 2019

He was arrested in June at a supermarket petrol station just off the A66 at Middlesbrough, and is suspected of having played a "key role" in placing at least 10 of the migrants who died in the lorry trailer.

The Vietnamese migrants were discovered in a refrigerated lorry trailer in Grays, Essex, on 23 October 2019.

The allegation is that he ran safe houses in Brussels in which the migrants stayed, and organised transport in taxis to the collection point in France where they were put into the sealed trailer.

A full hearing will take place at the same court on 11 November.

Mr Dalmian's case was sent to the Old Bailey, where he is due to appear on 1 October.