Two men who tried to smuggle 10 migrants, including eight children, into the UK in the back of a lorry have been convicted, writes Peter Brown, following a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation.
Eoin Nolan and Daniel Loughran organised the movement of the Vietnamese nationals from Belgium on 5 March 2020, less than five months after 39 people died trying to make a similar journey in Purfleet in 2019.
The driver was Duncan McLaughlin, from Glasgow.
People were hidden among a shipment of used tyres with the trailer due to be loaded onto a ferry bound for Purfleet. However, Belgian authorities working alongside the NCA tracked the lorry and stepped in at Gentbrugge, Belgium.
In a joint operation between the NCA and Belgian police, Duncan McLaughlin was arrested, and all 10 migrants were rescued. He was bailed and fled the country but was convicted in his absence in October 2021 and sentenced to 37 months imprisonment and an 88,000 euro fine.
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 (6 February).
They will be sentenced on 16 April.
