Jailed people-smuggling crime boss Ronan Hughes in court bid to overturn container death compo order

A crime boss serving 20 years for killing 39 migrants who suffocated in the back of a lorry has returned to the Old Bailey after challenging the compensation order in the High Court.

Ronan Hughes, 45, had charged migrants £14,000 each on the run from Zeebrugge, Belgium, to Purfleet in Essex and made £180,000 on just one trip. Trucker Maurice Robinson, 30, had found the bodies of 39 Vietnamese nationals including eight women and three children in the refrigerated trailer in Grays, Essex, on 23 October 2019.

Some had tried to break out using a pole as others wrote final heart-breaking text messages to loved ones as those around them sobbed in the darkness, knowing their final moments were near.

READ MORE: Irish haulage boss ordered to pay £180,000 to families of 39 container death victims

READ MORE: Northern Ireland haulier Ronan Hughes pleads guilty to manslaughter of 39 migrants found dead in lorry

Hughes, of County Monaghan, Northern Ireland, admitted 39 counts of manslaughter and one offence of assisting unlawful immigration for his part in facilitating the illegal immigration. In January last year a judge had ordered he pay £182,078.90 in compensation 'to the families of those killed in this terrible tragedy'.

Hughes, a ringleader in the people smuggling ring, was warned the penalty for defaulting on the order was two years in prison.
Central to the confiscation order was the house Hughes built on his parents' farmland where his wife and children live.

It was estimated that the asset is worth Euro 175,000 ( £150,000) based on a 50% share of the house valued at Euro 350,000 (£300,000).

But Hughes appealed on the basis his mother Catherine Hughes would not surrender any part of the title to the land or grant right of way to anyone to access the house. In April the Court of Appeal ruled that there was no agreement that the land upon which the house was built would belong to him.

Lord Justice Holroyde, Lord Justice Snowden and Mr Justice Jeremy Baker ruled there was insufficient evidence to suggest Hughes had any proprietorial interest in the land. The original order was quashed and the case was sent back to the Old Bailey for a fresh hearing.
Hughes, who appeared in court via video-link from HMP Wakefield, said he believed his mother owned the farmland in County Monaghan along with his brothers and uncle.

'Did you believe you owned the land the house was built on or not?', asked Tim Moloney, defending. Hughes replied: 'No.'
Mr Moloney asked: 'How much did it cost to build the house?' Hughes said: 'I don't know exactly. I'd estimate probably around 100,000 Euros.'

Asked how long he thought he would be able to live in the house he said: 'I thought I'd be able to live in it as long as I could, as long as I can.' Mr Moloney asked: 'Did you believe you would be able to sell the house to someone else?' Hughes replied: 'No'
Paul Jarvis, prosecuting, asked Hughes when he realised that he didn't own the house.

'Whenever my mother said she owned the land.' Asked how long he spent building the house Hughes replied: 'Five to six years'.
Mr Jarvis said there is a 2006 document that describes Hughes as the prospective owner of the house.

Mr Moloney asked Hughes: 'Was it ever suggested to you that you might own the land on which the house was built?'
Hughes said: 'That was never suggested to me, no.' Mr Moloney asked: 'Was there ever any agreement that you would come to own the land that the house was built on at some point in the future?' Hughes said: 'No there was never any agreement made?'

The hearing was adjourned until 13 December.

Jurors in the trial saw horrifying footage of steam gushing from the container which became a tomb as Robinson opened the doors after pulling up in Eastern Avenue, Grays.

Driver Maurice Robinson admitted manslaughter and trafficking and was earlier jailed for 13 years and four months. Marius Draghici was jailed for 12 years and seven months for manslaughter and conspiracy to assist illegal immigration.

Alexandru Hanga admitted conspiring to assist in unlawful immigration in relation to a single occasion separate from the fatal journey and was jailed for three years.

Driver Eamonn Harrison was convicted of the 39 counts of manslaughter and jailed 18 years. Kennedy, of Corkley Road, Keady, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, and Valentin Calota, of Cossington Road, Birmingham, each denied but were convicted of conspiring to assist unlawful immigration.

Kennedy was sentenced to seven years imprisonment and Calota was jailed for four and a half years.

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