Lorry deaths people smuggler gets extra jail time for not paying compensation

By Sam Russell, PA

A haulage boss who admitted the manslaughter of 39 people who were found in the back of a lorry must serve an extra year and four months in jail after failing to pay the full amount of compensation ordered to families.

Ronan Hughes was jailed for 20 years in 2021 for the manslaughter of the Vietnamese nationals, aged between 15 and 44, found in a vehicle in Essex on October 22nd 2019.

The victims died in sweltering conditions as they were transported in an airtight container from Zeebrugge in Belgium to Purfleet.

Hughes, 45, of Armagh, Northern Ireland, was taken back to court in 2024 and ordered to pay more than £182,000 in compensation to the families of victims.

He has paid £58,380 towards the confiscation order, but as of Tuesday – and including the interest accrued – he still owed more than £127,000.

The CPS Proceeds of Crime Division invited a court to impose an additional sentence on Hughes in light of his failure to pay the confiscation order.

He appeared before Folkstone Magistrates’ Court for an enforcement hearing on Tuesday and the judge ordered that he serve an additional year and four months in prison, the CPS said.

Heather Chalk, specialist prosecutor for the CPS, said: “Ronan Hughes led an unscrupulous network of organised criminals that sought to profit from smuggling desperate people.

“It is devastating that 39 vulnerable people lost their lives because of their greed and recklessness.

“The CPS is committed to working with law enforcement to dismantle these smuggling networks and prevent them from profiting from their criminality.

“Hughes failed to pay back his confiscation order in full and, as a result, he will be serving additional time in jail.”

In addition to Hughes, four other men were jailed for between 13 and 27 years for the manslaughter of the men, women and children.

They are: Romanian mechanic Gheorghe Nica, 48; Romanian Marius Mihai Draghici, 52, who was described as Nica’s “second-in-command”; lorry driver Maurice Robinson, 30, of Craigavon, who found the bodies; and Eamonn Harrison, 28, of Co Down, who had collected the victims on the continent.

To date, more than £283,000 in ill-gotten gains has been ordered to be paid by defendants as compensation to the victims’ families.