Essex lorry deaths: Driver 'called minutes after 39 bodies found'

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

A lorry driver accused of being part of a people-smuggling ring was phoned by a haulier boss minutes after the bodies of 39 Vietnamese migrants were found in a trailer, a court has heard.

Christopher Kennedy allegedly collected trailers of people from Purfleet, Essex, on 11 and 18 October last year.

On October 23, another driver collected a trailer which had travelled the same route and found the 39 bodies.

Mr Kennedy denies being involved in a people-smuggling plot.

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

The 24-year-old, of Keady in County Armagh, received several phone calls from haulier boss Ronan Hughes soon after the bodies were discovered in one of his trailer's by driver Maurice Robinson, the Old Bailey heard.

The jury was told that while Robinson was informing Hughes of the discovery, Mr Kennedy was trying to get hold of him too.

Within 46 seconds of the phone call ending, Hughes rang Mr Kennedy, who was transporting a load of wine to the UK.

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Seven minutes later, Hughes called Mr Kennedy again. The court was told the calls were made between burner phones belonging to the pair.

Mr Kennedy said the calls were regarding a "problem" with his booking to transport the wine by boat from Zeebrugge and that he should go by train.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones said: "I suggest to you, Mr Kennedy, you are making this up and Mr Hughes, dealing with 39 dead unlawful migrants, is not at the time calmly carrying on with you about your load of wine and whether you are on the boat or on the train.

"You have had to dream up an excuse for this call."

Mr Kennedy insisted he was telling the truth.

Christopher Kennedy told the Old Bailey the phone calls were about nothing unusual

Jurors heard that was the last time both Hughes and Mr Kennedy used their burner phones.

Mr Emlyn Jones suggested the calls were instructing Mr Kennedy to "get rid" of his burner phone.

Later on Mr Kennedy texted a friend that the trailer in which the bodies were found belonged to Hughes.

He told the friend there "must have been too many and run out of air".

Mr Emlyn Jones said his assessment was "absolutely spot on" and that Mr Kennedy had a clear understanding of the dangers as he was a people smuggler himself, which he denied.

Mr Kennedy, lorry driver Eamonn Harrison, 23, of Co Down, and Valentin Calota, 37, of Birmingham, have all denied being involved in a people-smuggling plot.

Mr Harrison and Gheorghe Nica, 43, of Basildon, Essex, deny 39 counts of manslaughter.

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

The trial continues.

This article was based on public announcements and appeals made by Essex Police at the relevant time. Christopher Hughes denies any involvement in these offences and Essex Police has since confirmed no further action will be taken against him. Since the publication of this article, his older brother, Ronan Hughes, 41, and Maurice Robinson, 26, both of County Armagh, have pleaded guilty to manslaughter. On 21 December 2020, the Crown Court, sitting at the Old Bailey, found Eamonn Harrison, 24 of Newry, County Down, and Gheorghe Nica, 43 of Basildon, Essex, guilty of manslaughter and Christopher Kennedy, 24, of County Armagh, and Valentin Calota 38, of Birmingham, guilty of conspiring to assist illegal immigration. Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, 28, of Tilbury, Essex, and Gazmir Nuzi, 43, of Tottenham, north London, admitted assisting unlawful immigration. All defendants were sentenced in January 2021.