Essex lorry deaths: Romanian people smuggler jailed for manslaughter of 39 migrants
A people smuggler has been jailed for more than 12 years for the manslaughter of 39 migrants who were found dead in a lorry trailer in Essex in 2019.
Marius Mihai Draghici, 50, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey last month to 39 counts of manslaughter and conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.
The Romanian was described as a “right-hand man” in the people-smuggling gang responsible for the deaths of the Vietnamese migrants.
He fled the country after the bodies were discovered and was detained by police in Romania last August and returned to the UK.
Marius Mihai Draghici was jailed on Tuesday
In a televised sentencing at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, Mr Justice Garnham jailed Draghici for 12 years and seven months.
He told the defendant he was an “essential cog” in a conspiracy which made “astonishing profits out of the exploitation of people desperate to get to the UK”.
He said the conditions inside the trailer where the victims died were “unspeakable” with “people trapped inside the trailer with no ventilation and no way of getting out”.
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People smuggler sentenced over 39 deaths
The victims – including men, women and children – were found dead in the back of a lorry on an industrial estate in Grays in October 2019.
They died after running out of air in temperatures of up to 38.5C (101F) in the trailer, which was shipped from Belgium to Purfleet docks in Essex.
“Their last hours must have entailed unimaginable suffering and anguish,” prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC said.
The defendant was recruited by fellow Romanian Gheorghe Nica, who was previously tried and convicted of involvement in the deaths, and they became “entirely inseparable”, a court heard.
In 2021, four other defendants were jailed for their roles in the deaths of the victims. Nica and Eamonn Harrison were convicted in 2020, while lorry driver Maurice Robinson and haulage boss Ronan Hughes admitted manslaughter.
In January, Hughes was ordered to pay the bereaved families of the victims more than £180,000 in compensation.
Thirty-nine people were found dead in a lorry trailer in Grays, Essex, in October 2019
The victims – aged between 15 and 44 – had suffocated after being sealed inside an airtight unit for nearly 12 hours.
Hughes had deployed lorry drivers in the plot, including Robinson, 28, who discovered his human cargo had already suffocated in transit after picking up the trailer they were in at Purfleet.
Read more:
The perilous journey that left 39 dead
Shortly before Robinson opened the back of the container, Hughes had texted him to “give them air quickly” but “don’t let them out”.
As part of the investigation, police identified at least six smuggling trips, with migrants paying up to £13,000 for a “VIP” service.
The grim discovery ended what had been a long-running conspiracy to smuggle mainly Vietnamese migrants into the UK in the back of lorries.
Assisted dying could become legal in England and Wales after the bill was backed by MPs in a historic vote.
Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill received 330 yes votes compared to 275 noes at its second reading in the House of Commons – a majority of 55.
Politics Live: MPs voting on historic assisted dying legislation
The bill would allow adults who are terminally ill with just six months left to live to request medical assistance to end their lives.
Today’s result means the legislation will now progress to the committee stage for scrutiny, with the Lords also to be given opportunities to express their views on the measure before it potentially becomes law.
MPs were given a free vote – meaning they could side with their conscience and not along party lines, with the government staying neutral on the matter.
The division list showed Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer backed the proposal, as did Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
But other cabinet members like Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood voted against the bill, having previously warned about vulnerable people being coerced and of a “slippery slope of death on demand”.
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MPs debate assisted dying
The vote came after a five-hour debate in the chamber, which drew emotional arguments on both sides.
Conservative former minister Andrew Mitchell revealed he changed his mind on assisted dying after finding himself with “tears pouring down my face” on hearing the stories of constituents whose loved ones had died “in great pain and great indignity”.
On the other side of the argument, veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott said assisted dying could result in sick people “feeling like a burden” on society, adding: ” I can imagine myself saying that in particular circumstances.”
She warned: “If this bill passes, we will have the NHS as a fully-funded 100% suicide service but palliative care will only be funded at 30% at best.”
Bill about ‘choice and dignity’
Opening the debate on the topic, Labour backbencher Ms Leadbeater said the bill was about giving dying people “choice, autonomy, and dignity” – saying the current law was “failing” them.
Kim Leadbeater: PA
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Two people reveal contrasting views on assisted dying
Five stories that bring the assisted dying debate home
She has insisted her bill contains “the most robust safeguards” of any assisted dying legislation in the word.
This includes two independent doctors having to approve the decision, followed by a high-court judge, with the person having to administer the drugs themselves.
The legislation also includes a maximum 14-year prison sentence for anyone who coerces someone into requesting assisted dying or taking the medicine.
Speaking to Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby after the vote, an emotional Ms Leadbeater said she was “incredibly proud” of the result and parliament must now “take on board everything that’s been discussed in the chamber”, including the state of palliative care and the rights of disabled people.
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