How much compensation will the 39 Vietnamese people who died in a container in the UK receive?
A judge at the UK High Court has ordered the seizure of assets from the ringleaders of a human trafficking ring to compensate the families of 39 Vietnamese victims who died in a container truck in 2019.
On January 15 (local time), the Essex County Police (UK) website reported that the judge of the UK's Supreme Criminal Court has issued a verdict on compensation for the families of 39 Vietnamese victims who died in a container in Essex in October 2019.
Previously, at the hearing on December 20, 2024, the Court issued a verdict on the assets of the leader of the human trafficking ring named Ronan Hughes.
Accordingly, Hughes presented evidence that the real estate he built on land owned by his parents in Ireland, therefore these assets should not be confiscated.
However, the judge has now found that the above assets are fully justified for confiscation, and has therefore ordered the confiscation of a total amount of £182,078.90 (more than VND5.6 billion) to compensate the families of the Vietnamese victims.
Thus, the total compensation to be paid to the 39 families is 283,802.58 pounds (about 8.8 billion VND).
"The money will be shared with 39 Vietnamese families who are still suffering from the loss of their loved ones. I know this will do little to heal their loss, but I sincerely hope the compensation will help them recover from their difficulties," said a representative of Essex Police.
Previously, on October 23, 2019, British authorities discovered 39 Vietnamese bodies in a container on a tractor-trailer in the town of Grays, Essex county, on the east coast of the United Kingdom.
On the same day, Hughes left Essex and boarded a plane to Ireland. On October 29, 2019, Hughes was wanted but still deliberately stayed at his home in Monaghan, Northern Ireland.
Because Hughes had left the UK for Ireland, a member of the European Union (EU), authorities could not have arrested him without an EU arrest warrant.
On 20 April 2020, a European arrest warrant was issued and Hughes was brought back to Essex for questioning.
In February 2021, Hughes pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison.
"Following the conclusion of the criminal proceedings, which resulted in a total sentence of 117 years for the people smuggling group, our final action is to prosecute Hughes for the unlawful profiteering offences," Essex Police said in a statement.