Essex lorry deaths trial: Driver ‘was watching Netflix’ as migrants loaded into trailer

Eamonn Harrison claims he agreed to deal with ‘stolen goods’ but did not know 39 people were in back of vehicle

Lorry driver Eamonn Harrison, 23, pictured in a Belgium truck stop shop. (Essex Police/PA)

A lorry driver accused over the deaths of 39 migrants has told a court he was watching Netflix at the time people were allegedly being loaded into his trailer.  

Eamonn Harrison, 23, dropped off a sealed container with the Vietnamese victims inside at a port in Zeebrugge, Belgium, on 22 October last year, the Old Bailey has heard.  

Another driver, Maurice Robinson, 26, picked up the trailer at Purfleet in Essex and found all 39 men, women and children had suffocated inside, jurors were told.  

Mr Harrison, of Newry, County Down, has denied knowing there were people in his trailer on that day or during two earlier successful people-smuggling trips.  

He told jurors he agreed to deal with "stolen goods" because he owed his boss Ronan Hughes, 41, over a drink-drive accident in one of his trucks.  

The court heard how on the morning of 22 October last year, Mr Harrison parked his lorry near Bierne in northern France, where he said he had expected to take a consignment of Coca-Cola before he spoke to Mr Hughes, who told him “there would be a load of stolen goods”.  

He said he waited for half an hour for a Romanian he knew as Alex to arrive before setting off to get breakfast at McDonald's.  

The defendant said: "Ronan was in contact with me to tell me to turn around and the man was there."  

He said Alex was not present but another eastern European was, who “clearly knew the lorry, what it was there for”.  

Police and forensic officers examine the lorry at Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, Essex (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Mr Harrison said the man told him to "close the curtains" and "lie down" once he had moved his lorry.  

He told the court he did as he was told and watched "a wee of bit Netflix" in bed.  

He told jurors: "I got a bang on the door. He gives me a thumbs up and I move off. That's what I did. It was fairly quick, five minutes."  

Alisdair Williamson QC, defending, said: "Did you have any idea what you were getting involved with?"  

The defendant said: "No, I did not."  

CCTV image showing lorry driver Maurice Robinson, 26, leaving Purfleet port, Essex (Essex Police/PA)

Police handout of haulier Ronan Hughes (Essex Police/AFP via Getty Images)

Mr Williamson said: "Mr Harrison, did you in order to work off your debt to Mr Hughes agree to human beings to be put in the back of your trailer?"  

Mr Harrison replied: "No I did not."  

Cross-examining, Bill Emlyn Jones said: "You understand, Mr Harrison, it is my case that you shut them into your trailer. Did you?” Mr Harrison replied: "No I did not."  

Mr Harrison has denied the manslaughter of 39 migrants and being involved in a wider people-smuggling operation.  

Jurors have heard that Hughes, of County Armagh, and Robinson, of Craigavon, in Northern Ireland, have admitted their involvement in the tragedy.  

The trial continues.

Additional reporting by PA