Essex lorry deaths: Eamonn Harrison linked, Dublin court told

The bodies of 39 people were found in a lorry container in Essex in October

There is a link between a Northern Ireland lorry driver and the deaths of 39 people found in a refrigerated container in Essex, a court has heard.

The extradition hearing of 23-year-old Eamonn Harrison is taking place at the High Court in the Republic of Ireland.

UK authorities are seeking the County Down man's extradition to face manslaughter and conspiracy charges.

The conspiracy charges are connected to human trafficking and assisting unlawful immigration.

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The court in Dublin was previously told that Mr Harrison, from Mayobridge near Newry, drove the lorry used to deliver a container to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge before it travelled to Essex.

On Friday morning, a barrister for the Irish state said there was a legal precedent to extradite where the evidence is circumstantial.

The court also heard that there was information that human traffickers received €1,500 (£1,250) for each individual and that one trafficker had received €25,000 (£20,870) as a lump sum.

Eamonn Harrison was arrested in Dublin on a European Arrest Warrant

The barrister said what was alleged was that Mr Harrison and his co-conspirators knew there were people in the container because of a UK-based conspiracy that began in 2018.

"How can sealing 39 people in the back of a container and leaving them there for a nine-hour sailing not be a dangerous act?" he asked.

He added that Mr Harrison got rid of his mobile phone after the discovery of the 39 bodies, delayed his journey home and did not contact law enforcement agencies.

Mr Harrison's barrister said on Thursday there was nothing in the extradition warrant to point to manslaughter because of negligence or a dangerous act on his part.

She added there was nothing to say there were people in the container while he was in control of it, nor that he knew there were people in the container.

Legal precedent

She said there was no evidence to suggest all 39 victims died in the UK.

At Friday morning's hearing the state barrister said it was "a circumstantial case - to a degree".

But he added there was a legal precedent to allow extradition where the evidence was circumstantial and to allow a jury to decide.

He also said there was evidence Mr Harrison was intricately involved in a conspiracy to human traffic people from Vietnam.

Judge Donald Binchy reserved judgment until Friday 24 January.

Mr Harrison has been remanded in custody.