39 dead in lorry in Essex (1 Viewer)

Bloody hell that's dreadful.

It says murder which surely means he meant to kill them?

If he was just people smuggling it would be manslaughter wouldn't it?

Looks like it went from Bulgaria to Ireland to Holyhead and then down to Essex.

Nick said:

Looks like it went from Bulgaria to Ireland to Holyhead and then down to Essex.

Click to expand...

It'll have come from Bulgaria to the UK to Ireland in the first place.

fernandopartridge said:

It'll have come from Bulgaria to the UK to Ireland in the first place.

Click to expand...

It is more likely that it went from Bulgaria to Roscoff (France) and then by ferry to Ireland.

That's horrific.

Bloomin eck

The most probable scenario is that they were sex workers put in the very back of a lorry with a lack of oxygen and a long route. I'd say this happens regularly but isn't caught. It must have been hellish for the victims.

Diane Abbott speaks for us all when she said "These people are people".

fellatio_Martinez said:

The most probable scenario is that they were sex workers put in the very back of a lorry with a lack of oxygen and a long route. I'd say this happens regularly but isn't caught. It must have been hellish for the victims.

Diane Abbott speaks for us all when she said "These people are people".

Click to expand...

Apparently it was a refrigerated unit, so up to -25C...

Just seen the driver had just picked it up. I wonder if he didn't know what was in there and turned the fridge on?

Its still random how he's been arrested for murder though.

Also strange he apparently drove from Northern Ireland to Essex to pick up the trailer.

The BBC is reporting it will be a very difficult task to identify the bodies, but surely if they were going to apply for asylum, they must all have identifying papers in their possession?

Gazolba said:

The BBC is reporting it will be a very difficult task to identify the bodies, but surely if they were going to apply for asylum, they must all have identifying papers in their possession?

Click to expand...

I won't talk specifics, but as you mentioned asylum seekers...

If you think that when fleeing torture, abuse, and terror you stop and gather up your documents before dropping by to say goodbye to your neighbour... then you're a fucking mentalist.

"A vigil is being held at 18:00 outside the Home Office to "call for urgent action to ensure safe passage" for people fleeing war and poverty."

I don't understand this, if people have decided to get in a lorry themselves/forced to by traffickers, how can the Home Office be held responsible?

They were all chinese apparently, obviously no safe countries between China and England?

The police seem to think it's an Irish thing, raiding houses.

NorthernWisdom said:

I won't talk specifics, but as you mentioned asylum seekers...

If you think that when fleeing torture, abuse, and terror you stop and gather up your documents before dropping by to say goodbye to your neighbour... then you're a fucking mentalist.

Click to expand...

How do they know they're Chinese nationalists then?

ccfc92 said:

How do they know they're Chinese nationalists then?

Click to expand...

What bit of "I won't talk specifics" has proven a challenge to understand?

(Are we really important right wing reactionaries from China now?)

NorthernWisdom said:

What bit of "I won't talk specifics" has proven a challenge to understand?

(Are we really important right wing reactionaries from China now?)

Click to expand...

I'm just saying, how would they know they're Chinese with no ID docs? I think Gazolba was asking a fair question tbh.

I have a friend from Belgium who worked for the ministry of defence there. He was posted all over the place and said they regularly found containers full of bodies in that had come from Asia.

I imagine this is the same thing. If they were indeed Chinese then they would have been human slaves most probably.

It makes you wonder how long they had been in there. Had they been in across land all that way?

So in my view, the public disclosure of this driver's face and personal details all over the mainstream media is utterly abhorrent!
The evidence seems to suggest that the tractor unit he was driving entered the UK at Holyhead off a ferry from Dublin on Saturday. He has probably done a load of pick-ups and drop-offs of trailers all over UK since then.
The tractor then collected the (unaccompanied) refrigerated trailer off a ferry at Purfleet at 0105 yesterday, having arrived from Zeebrugge. It was then driven to the trading estate in Grays, where it arrived at 0130. The driver got out, and opened the back doors to discover the bodies. He rang the ambulance service and was then arrested on suspicion of murder!
It would appear he had no contact with the trailer before picking it up, so even if he was the one that turned on the refrigeration plant, it would not have killed anyone in the 25 minutes it took to get to Grays. So he cannot be guilty of causing the death of the 39 Chinese.
I think the only doubt in my mind is whether he could be "in on it", and was told what the cargo was, and that he should open the back door to allow their escape when he got to Grays. He might have pocketed a few notes, so MAY be guilty (at most, in my opinion) of something like "conspiracy to conduct people smuggling/modern slavery/etc".
But the police need to release this guy as soon as possible if they have no other evidence (e.g. from the house searches in Northern Ireland, where he comes from), and don't make him a scapegoat for what is probably a massive international operation!

It is a bit random how his face was all over the papers within a couple of hours.

Nick said:

It is a bit random how his face was all over the papers within a couple of hours.

Click to expand...

I hope if he is innocent that he gets a shit-hot personal injury lawyer and goes after every one of those media bastards for every penny they have! Essex Police have said they will not speculate as to the bloke's identity. Sadly the mainstream media have not followed their example.

So the police have been given an extra 24 hours to trump something up against the driver!

Sounds like human trafficking. Say what you like about May but she was right to make modern slavery a priority.

ccfc92 said:

How do they know they're Chinese nationalists then?

Click to expand...

It's in the eyes.

If they were Chinese, i would go along with the trafficking or modern slavery suggestion, rather than just smuggling in asylum seekers.

shmmeee said:

Sounds like human trafficking. Say what you like about May but she was right to make modern slavery a priority.

Click to expand...

I agree, if she could have got the workers cheaper it would have saved the taxpayers a fortune.

Nick said:

It is a bit random how his face was all over the papers within a couple of hours.

Click to expand...

Yes, I thought the same. Seems incredibly early on in to change the bloke with murder and plaster his face everywhere.

Just wondering how they have seemingly proven that he knew and was involved.

Otis said:

Yes, I thought the same. Seems incredibly early on in to change the bloke with murder and plaster his face everywhere.

Just wondering how they have seemingly proven that he knew and was involved.

Click to expand...

When was he charged?

Grendel said:

When was he charged?

Click to expand...

Yes, sorry, my mistake. Arrested on suspicion of murder.

The amount of trolldom on Twitter of this guy is astounding. They are even turning it into a sectarian issue!!

OffenhamSkyBlue said:

The amount of trolldom on Twitter of this guy is astounding. They are even turning it into a sectarian issue!!

Click to expand...

Shouldn't even be about him anyway, he'll either be charged or not. To make it about him pushes aside the fact 39 people have died.

NorthernWisdom said:

Shouldn't even be about him anyway, he'll either be charged or not. To make it about him pushes aside the fact 39 people have died.

Click to expand...

I suspect you might feel differently if it was you. It’s about everybody involved in this horrific event

Macca said:

I suspect you might feel differently if it was you. It’s about everybody involved in this horrific event

Click to expand...

This thread shifted towards one man, and that means the other lot are pushed aside and are seemingly worthless. Before that, there's the odd fucking disrespectful comment about identification, and the fact there were no other safe countries between China and England.

Meanwhile 39 people fucking die, and instead the outrage is about one man. Not about the fact 39 people get to a position in their life where uprooting themselves and putting themselves in peril is seen as their best way out of whatever misery they have. If the driver's innocent, he'll be found innocent. Those people have no way back. Forget the rights and wrongs, that's a fucking tragedy.