Essex lorry deaths: Maurice Robinson moved to NI prison

Maurice 'Mo' Robinson is serving a 13-year term after admitting the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese migrants

A man convicted of the manslaughter of 39 people in a lorry trailer in Essex in 2019 has been moved from an English prison to a jail in Northern Ireland.

Lorry driver Maurice Robinson, from County Armagh, was part of a people-smuggling operation which caused the suffocation of 39 Vietnamese migrants.

Robinson discovered the bodies when he opened the door of the sealed container in Grays in Essex in October 2019.

It is understood he has been moved to Maghaberry jail in County Antrim.

A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Prison Service said it cannot comment on individual cases, but explained that prisoners serving sentences in the UK may apply to be transferred from one jurisdiction to another if they meet qualifying criteria.

Robinson, from Craigavon, was 25 years old when he agreed to pick up the lorry from the docks in Purfleet in Essex on 23 October 2019.

The migrants, aged 15 to 44, had already been in the container for at least 12 hours as it was shipped from Belgium to Purfleet.

Struggled to breathe

Robinson's then boss Ronan Hughes, also from County Armagh, had instructed him to open the container and give them air quickly.

But when Robinson opened the door he realised the people travelling in the container were already dead.

Among the victims were 10 teenagers, two of them 15-year-old boys.

Thirty-nine people died in the back of a trailer as it crossed the North Sea between Zeebrugge and the UK

Some of them had phoned their families as they struggled to breathe inside the trailer and after their deaths, their voice messages were played in court as part of the prosecution of the people-smuggling gang.

Robinson pleaded guilty to 39 counts of manslaughter at the Old Bailey in April 2020 and is currently serving a prison term of 13 years and four months.

His transfer to Maghaberry, a high-security prison near Lisburn, was first reported by the Press Association news agency.

It said it understood the transfer took place in March.

'Crucial element of rehabilitation'

The Northern Ireland Prison Service has not confirmed the move.

However, in a statement its spokesman said "prisoners serving sentences in the UK may apply to be transferred from one jurisdiction to another under Intra-UK prisoner transfer arrangements providing they meet certain qualifying criteria".

"These include having close family (ie a partner, children, parents, grandparents or a wider supportive family circle) resident in the receiving jurisdiction.

"These arrangements help provide prisoners with easier access to a supportive family environment, which is considered a crucial element of a prisoner's rehabilitation journey.

"Transfers are usually on a restricted basis, meaning that for the purposes of detention, release and licence recall they remain subject to the laws governing the original sentencing jurisdiction.

"For these prisoners release dates remain unaltered."