Man pleads guilty in connection with Grays lorry deaths

Police arrested Dragos Damian outside Milan in June 

A man has admitted to assisting with unlawful immigration following the deaths of 39 Vietnamese people in Grays. 

Dragos Stefan Damian, 27, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, 16 November. 

It is after the bodies of 39 migrants were found in the back of a refrigerated lorry in Grays on Wednesday, 23 October 2019. 

There were 31 males and eight women among the victims. The youngest were two 15-year-old boys while the oldest was 44-years-old. 

Damian was arrested just outside of Milan on Thursday, 10 June 2021 as part of a police investigation into the deaths. 

He is due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Friday, 14 January. 

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