Man charged in connection with Essex lorry container deaths

LONDON - A man from Northern Ireland was charged on Sunday in connection with the bodies of 39 people that were found in a refrigerated lorry container in October in Essex in southeast England.

Christopher Kennedy, 23, has been charged with human trafficking offences. He is from County Armagh in Northern Ireland.

Kennedy was arrested in the early hours of Friday in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, and will appear at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on Monday.

The bodies of 39 people were found in a lorry trailer in Grays, Essex, on Oct. 23 after it arrived in Purfleet from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge.

Maurice Robinson, a 25-year-old lorry driver from Northern Ireland, has been charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration, and money laundering.

He is expected to appear at the Old Bailey on Monday.

A second man, Eamonn Harrison, 22, was charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, along with human trafficking and immigration offences, after being arrested in Ireland last week.

Essex Police have started extradition proceedings to bring him to Britain.