Ronan Hughes, 40, appears in court charged with manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese migrants who were found dead inside a lorry in Essex, the UK, last October. (Photo: Essex police)

Ronan Hughes, 40, who was extradited to the UK from Ireland, appeared before Southend Magistrates’ Court in the east of London by video-link from a police station on June 24 (local time).

The defendant, from County Armagh in Northern Ireland, was detained by Irish police on April 20 on foot of a European arrest warrant and charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, as well as immigration offences.

He is due at a London court on July 22 for a plea hearing.

Last October, the bodies of the Vietnamese nationals were discovered by emergency services on the back of a regiferated lorry at an industrial estate in Essex.

Among the 39 dead were ten teenagers, including two 15-year-old boys.

On April 8, 25-year-old lorry driver Maurice Robinson from Craigavon in Northern Ireland pleaded guilty to 39 counts of manslaughter at the Old Bailey.

He had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and acquiring criminal property at the same court on November 25 last year.

Four other men will stand trial at the Old Bailey in connection with this case in October./.VNA