Truck driver charged with manslaughter of 39 people

Lorry driver Maurice Robinson has been charged with the manslaughter of the 39 people whose bodies were found in the back of a refrigerated truck trailer, Essex Police said on Saturday.

The 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland was arrested after the bodies of eight women and 31 men were discovered in Grays, near London, in the early hours of Wednesday.

Robinson is due before Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on Monday.

Three other people have been arrested over the 39 deaths, including a 48-year-old man from Northern Ireland, and a 38-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman from Warrington, and all remain in custody on suspicion of manslaughter and conspiracy to human trafficking.

A fifth man has been arrested by Irish police in Dublin in connection with the investigation of the 39 deaths.