A Northern Ireland lorry driver has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 39 people who were found dead in the back of a refrigerated truck.
The bodies of the Vietnamese nationals were discovered by emergency services at an industrial estate in Grays, Essex, shortly after the lorry arrived on a ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium in the early hours of October 23 last year.
Among the men, women and children were 10 teenagers, two of them 15-year-old boys.
Five men charged following an investigation by Essex Police appeared for a virtual hearing at the Old Bailey before Mr Justice Sweeney.
Maurice Robinson, 25, of Craigavon, Co Armagh, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and acquiring criminal property.
During the hearing on Wednesday, the truck driver also admitted 39 counts of manslaughter on or before October 24 last year.
He denied a further charge of transferring criminal property.
Robinson appeared at court via video link alongside four other co-defendants.
