A Co Armagh man was convicted on Thursday of involvement in a conspiracy to smuggle migrants, including eight children, into the UK in a lorry, just months after 39 died after suffocating inside a trailer on the same journey from the European mainland.
Daniel Loughran (36), of McRory’s Road in Newtownhamilton, was involved in the conspiracy to smuggle 10 Vietnamese nationals from Belgium in March 2020.
Loughran, a haulier, was convicted alongside a second Irish national, 53-year-old Eoin Nolan, with an address in Buckinghamshire, at Maidstone Crown Court. They will be sentenced in April.
A third Irishman, former GAA footballer Wayne Sherlock, from Co Meath, was convicted for his role in the plot in 2022 and sentenced to four years in prison.
The attempt to smuggle the migrants into the UK came just five months after the mass killings of 39 Vietnamese migrants who suffocated to death on the journey from the continent.
Ronan Hughes, from Armagh, was sentenced to 20 years for manslaughter. Maurice Robinson, also from Armagh, received a term of over 13 years, while Eamonn Harrison, from Co Down, is serving an 18-year sentence.
In the case involving Loughran, the migrants had been given a pre-determined rendezvous point in the Rue de Forts area of France where they met the driver, Duncan McLaughlin, 64, from Glasgow.
They were then hidden in a load of used tyres ahead of being driven from France to Zeebrugge in Belgium where they would have been loaded onto a ferry to Purfleet, England.
National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators believe they were charged in the region of £15,000 each for their passage to the UK.
Belgian authorities, who were working with the NCA to track the lorry, were able to move in and intercept the trailer at a parking area in Gentbrugge, Belgium, before it was able to board the boat.
Loughran worked with Sherlock to arrange for an HGV tractor unit to be moved from Ireland to Kent on March 4 2020, ready to be used in the smuggling attempt the following day, the NCA said.
Messages between the group showed detailed planning including routes, logistics and how the migrants should enter and hide in the vehicle.
They included: “might want to load them [the migrants] in the dark boss” and “yes with the wheels inside they can get in and sleep”. In another chain, they said, “they need to stay still and wait till doors open and we shout out to f***”.
Nolan and Loughran were arrested by NCA officers and convicted of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration following a five-week trial at Maidstone Crown Court.
David Cunningham, NCA branch commander, said: “Despite the tragedy that led to the deaths of 39 migrants in Purfleet in 2019, this gang sought to take advantage of this group of Vietnamese nationals, most of whom were children, putting them at risk by smuggling them across the English Channel.
“Each of the migrants were charged thousands of pounds and hidden in inhumane conditions.
“These smuggling gangs show complete disregard for the safety and wellbeing of those who decide to use these dangerous methods to try to enter the UK. Once payment is made by the migrant they simply become a commodity for transportation.”
Tarika Jayaratne, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The defendants in this case made significant efforts to avoid and undermine the checks and controls we have on immigration at our borders. They also put the safety and wellbeing of the vulnerable children they were smuggling at risk for profit.”
