A man has been remanded in custody after appearing in court charged with the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese migrants found dead inside a shipping container last year.
Ronan Hughes, 40, appeared at Southend Magistrates' Court in Essex on Wednesday via video link from a police station.
Hughes is charged with 39 counts of manslaughter between October 22 and October 24, 2019, as well as one count of facilitating the illegal entry of people into the UK between May 1, 2018 and October 24, 2019.
The defendant, from County Armagh, Northern Ireland, ran a haulage business whose drivers and trailers were used to smuggle migrants into the UK, prosecutors told the court.
Hughes played a leading role in the operation, they added.
In court, he spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address and give his nationality as Irish. He was not asked to enter a plea, and no application for bail was made.
Hughes was wearing a blue T-shirt, blue jeans and white trainers. He was flanked by police officers wearing face masks.
Judge Timothy King ordered Hughes to be remanded in custody, with his plea hearing set for July 22 at the Old Bailey in London.
The judge also read out the names of the 39 people who died during the smuggling operation.
Their bodies were found in a shipping container in Grays, Essex, that had arrived on a ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium on October 23 2019.
Among them were ten teenagers, including two 15-year-old boys.
Maurice Robinson, 25, admitted 39 counts of manslaughter at the Old Bailey in April after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.
Robinson, of Craigavon in Northern Ireland, also admitted acquiring criminal property, but denied a further charge of transferring criminal property.
The Dublin high court ruled last month that Hughes could be extradited to the UK to face charges.
