UK man accused of deaths of 39 migrants admits to unlawful immigration charges

Maurice Robinson admits plotting to assist illegal immigration and acquiring criminal property

Police at the scene where bodies were discovered in a lorry container, in Grays, Essex. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

A Northern Irish truck driver charged with manslaughter over the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants found in the back of a lorry parked near London has pleaded guilty to lesser charges.

Maurice Robinson has admitted plotting to assist illegal immigration and acquiring criminal property.

Robinson, 25, appeared at London’s Central Criminal Court on Monday by video link from prison.

He did not enter pleas to 39 counts of manslaughter and conspiracy to traffic people.

The bodies were found October 23 in the English town of Grays, 30 kilometres east of London.

Police say the victims were all from Vietnam and aged between 15 to 44.

The 31 men and eight women are believed to have paid people traffickers to take them to England.

Most were from Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces in north-central Vietnam, where poor job prospects and other factors lead them to migrate.

Six people have now been arrested in connection with the incident.

More than $110,000 (Dh404,000) has been gathered through crowdfunding to help support the victims' families.

The money will be used to help pay for the costs of flying the bodies back to their families in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese government has also offered loans to relatives of the victims.