A MAN from Co. Armagh was who part of a plot to smuggle 10 migrants — including eight children — into Britain in the back of a lorry has been convicted following a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation.
Daniel Loughran, 36, worked with 53-year-old Eoin Nolan to organise the movement of the Vietnamese nationals from Belgium on March 5, 2020.
The incident occurred less than five months after 39 people died trying to make a similar journey.
At Maidstone Crown Court on Thursday, Loughran and Nolan were convicted of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and will be sentenced on April 16.
"The two defendants in this case made significant efforts to avoid and undermine the checks and controls we have on immigration at our borders," said Tarika Jayaratne of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Two other men, 44-year-old Wayne Sherlock from Dover and Duncan McLaughlin, 64, from Glasgow, were also involved in the conspiracy.
Plot
Co. Armagh man Loughran worked with Sherlock to arrange for an HGV tractor unit to be moved from Ireland to Kent on March 4, 2020, ready to be used in the smuggling attempt the following day.
Nolan, from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, was responsible for sourcing a driver for the journey.
He arranged for McLaughlin to travel from Scotland to Kent to pick up an HGV and take a ferry to France to drive the migrants from their pick-up point and across Europe.
Throughout the trip, McLaughlin remained in contact with Nolan to ensure that the migrants were collected on time.
The migrants — eight of whom were children — were given a pre-determined rendezvous point in the Rue de Forts area of France where they met McLaughlin.
They were then hidden in a load of used tyres before being driven from France to Zeebrugge in Belgium, where they would have been loaded onto a ferry to Purfleet, England.
NCA investigators believe they were charged in the region of £15,000 each for their passage to Britain.
However, Belgian authorities, working with the NCA to track the lorry, were able to intercept the trailer at a parking area in Gentbrugge before it boarded the boat.
McLaughlin was arrested close to Bruges and all 10 migrants were rescued.
He was bailed and fled the country, being convicted in his absence in October 2021 and sentenced to 37 months' imprisonment and an €88,000 fine.
According to the CPS, McLaughlin is now deceased.
Sherlock, meanwhile, pleaded guilty on June 23, 2020 to one count of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.
He was sentenced to four years' imprisonment at Maidstone Crown Court on June 21, 2022.
'Inhumane conditions'
Following the convictions of Loughran and Nolan this week, Ms Jayaratne said the pair 'put the safety and wellbeing of the vulnerable children they were smuggling at risk for profit'.
Her words were echoed by NCA Branch Commander David Cunningham.
"Despite the tragedy that led to the deaths of 39 migrants in Purfleet in 2019, this gang sought to take advantage of this group of Vietnamese nationals, most of whom were children, putting them at risk by smuggling them across the English Channel," he said.
"Each of the migrants were charged thousands of pounds and hidden in inhumane conditions.
"These smuggling gangs show complete disregard for the safety and wellbeing of those who decide to use these dangerous methods to try to enter the UK.
"Once payment is made by the migrant they simply become a commodity for transportation."
See More: Armagh, People Smuggling
