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Two HGVs linked to Britain’s most wanted brothers were chased by the authorities in the days before 39 migrants were found dead in the back of a lorry they allegedly own, MailOnline can reveal today.
Ronan Hughes and his brother Chris have been on the run for ten days with police in Northern Ireland, Ireland and England wanting to arrest them on suspicion of manslaughter and people trafficking.
Today it emerged a green lorry with R Hughes livery, and a red and white lorry with C Hughes on the cab, were caught on camera failing to stop for a Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency vehicle outside Immingham Docks on Humberside last month.
The DVSA car, a common sight at UK ports on the look out for unsafe lorries, tries to pull them over but is forced to give chase when they fail to stop.
The same bright green lorry was pulled over in Northern Ireland yesterday by officers hunting the siblings from Co Armargh since the 39 bodies were found at Purfleet docks in Essex on October 23.
A green lorry with R Hughes livery, and a red and white lorry with C Hughes on the cab, were caught on camera failing to stop for a Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency vehicle outside Immingham Docks on Humberside last month.
The DVSA vehicle appears to ask the lorries to pull over and then swings around a roundabout to give chase
The same green lorry chased and pulled over one of their lorries near Lisburn yesterday afternoon but the siblings were not inside
Haulier brother Ronan and Chris Hughes, from Co Armagh, are wanted on suspicion of manslaughter and human trafficking but have vanished
A driver who posted the footage on Facebook said the lorries involved in the incident near Grimsby were trying to avoid an inspection, but a spokesman for the DVSA told MailOnline: ‘We are unable to comment on ongoing cases’.
It is not known if Ronan and Chris Hughes were driving the lorries at the time – and police also refused to comment.
The haulier siblings – currently the most hunted men in Britain – are still wanted on suspicion of manslaughter and human trafficking having vanished from their family farm in Northern Ireland.
At a press conference in Belfast today, Essex Police Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Stoten pleaded with them to hand themselves in – and raised the extraordinary prospect that the alleged people traffickers may well have been smuggled out of the UK themselves.
As the net closed in on the alleged traffickers, it also emerged today:
- Lorry driver Eamon Harrison, 22, from County Down, Northern Ireland, appeared in court in Dublin accused of delivering the refrigerated trailer to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge
- Police in Vietnam arrested two people and summoned others for questioning on Friday on suspicion of involvement in the deaths of 39 people;
- Police confirmed MailOnline story two days ago – that Ronan Harrison called officers in Essex and Belfast in hours after tragedy, apparently to vouch for Mo Robinson and find out what police knew about them;
Detectives today charged a second Northern Irish lorry driver with 39 counts of manslaughter as two suspects were also arrested in Vietnam over the dozens of migrants found dead in the back of a lorry outside an Essex port.
Eamon Harrison, 22, from County Down – the man believed to have delivered the ill-fated container to Zeebrugge, Belgium – is also accused of conspiracy to commit a human trafficking and conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.
Essex Police has started extradition proceedings to bring Harrison from Ireland to the UK to face the charges in the next few weeks.
Harrison, who appeared in a Dublin court today, faces the same charges as Mo Robinson, 25, who picked up the -25C trailer from Purfleet port on Wednesday, October 23.
Eamon Harrison, 23, from County Down, is the man believed to have delivered the ill-fated container to Zeebrugge, Belgium, and was charged with 39 counts of manslaughter today. Mo Robinson, 25, who picked it up, has already appeared in court accused of the same thing
Armed Irish police officers escort a cab to a police station in Dublin last Saturday. It is the same cab that drove the ill-fated trailer from Zeebrugge,Belgium, believed to have had Harrison behind the wheel
Dozens of migrants who died here in Essex (pictured) are believed to be from Vietnam travelling on fake Chinese passports. Police in Hanoi arrested two people linked to the trafficking plot today
The new suspect was arrested on Saturday while coming off an Irish ferry at Dublin Port on Saturday for two unrelated minor offences. His lorry was also impounded by armed police.
But today officers charged him with manslaughter in the holding cells of the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin.
He appeared before Mr Justice Donald Binchy in the High Court this morning following the endorsement of a European Arrest Warrant. He has been remanded to Cloverhill Prison in Dublin until November 11.
As the net closed in on the alleged traffickers, it also emerged today:
It came as police in Vietnam this afternoon arrested two people and summoned others for questioning over the trafficking of their countrymen into Britain – a criminal enterprise said to earn millions for gangsters in south-east Asia each year.
DCI Stoten also confirmed the claim reported by MailOnline two days ago that Ronan Hughes phoned police in Essex and Northern Ireland shortly after the grim discovery was made to claim the driver Mo Robinson, 25, was ‘legit’.
Sources in Ireland claimed Ronan made the calls to fish for information about what officers knew, including claims he is the owner of the lorry in which the bodies were found.
His brother Chris has also reportedly been seen walking around his hometown of Monaghan near the Northern Irish border, but has also not been found.
DCI Daniel Stoten told reporters at a press conference in Northern Ireland: ‘Today I want to make a direct appeal – Ronan and Christopher, hand yourselves in.
‘We need you both to come forward and assist this investigation. Although we have already spoken to Ronan Hughes recently by telephone we need to have a conversation with him and his brother in person.
‘Talking to Ronan and Christopher is crucial to our investigation and the sooner we can make this happen the sooner we can progress and continue with our investigation.’
In the 2am call, he is said to have claimed that the driver, Mo Robinson, had nothing to do with people smuggling and didn’t know of the container’s cargo.
Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Stoten from Essex Police during a press conference at the headquarters of the PSNI, Belfast, where he asked for the Hughes brothers to hand themselves in
A source told BelfastLive: ‘Hughes confirmed he knew Robinson and pushed to get a number of questions answered. He gave his [own] date of birth and an address.
‘We believe he was trying to establish how much and what information the police had at that time. He appeared willing to co-operate with police but he has not been contactable since.’
Ronan Hughes is alleged to have driven the refrigerated trailer from its depot near the Irish border on October 15 after signing a lease document, sources have told the Daily Mail.
According to GPS data, it travelled through Wales and England, crossed the Channel to Calais, returned to Kent and then made a second crossing to travel through France and Belgium. It is unclear who was involved in driving for much of the journey.
Police impounded a second cab – believed to be owned by Ronan Hughes – in Dublin on Saturday, which is suspected of having delivered the trailer with its doomed passengers to Zeebrugge docks before it crossed the Channel last week.
The Mail approached Hughes at his large, new-build detached house in County Monaghan in the Republic last week but he told the reporter to leave , saying: ‘Get off my f****** street, you cheeky b******.’
Ronan Hughes was previously jailed for two and a half years after he was found with six million cigarettes hidden in fruit pallets at the Port of Dover.
The investigation into the deaths of the 39 victims is the biggest such investigation in Essex Police’s history.
MailOnline has visited the address reportedly given on the lease document for the container by a ‘Ronan Hughes’. Those at the address declined to comment
Pham Tra My, 26, was the first person named by family as among the 39 dead in the container tragedy and it appears she may have been deported from Britain days earlier
This is the last photo of 15-year-old Nguyen Huy Hung, who has been missing since he tried to cross illegally to Britain, his family claim
Nguyen Van Hung’s shocked family have not heard from him since October 21st when he sent a message saying he was ‘going by taxi’ to the UK
Senior security sources told the Irish Daily Mail that an elite squad of the Irish gardaí are ‘assisting’ UK police with the investigation.
Essex Police yesterday said Ronan Hughes – who also goes by Rowan – and his brother are both from Armagh in Northern Ireland. Appealing to the public, Detective Chief Superintendent Stuart Hooper, who is leading the inquiry, said: ‘Finding and speaking to the Hughes brothers is crucial to our investigation.
‘At this time we believe they are in Northern Ireland but they also have links to the Irish Republic.
‘This is a case where 39 men and women have tragically died and support from the community is going to be vital to help bring those responsible to justice.’
Lorry driver Maurice ‘Mo’ Robinson, 25, who collected the trailer last Wednesday has been charged with 39 counts of manslaughter.
Another driver, who is suspected of bringing the container to Zeebrugge before it crossed the Channel, is due to appear in court in Dublin today on unrelated charges.
The bodies were found in a refrigerated trailer attached to a lorry in an industrial park in Grays in the early hours of last Wednesday.
The container was picked up at Purfleet in a cab driven by Robinson, from Craigavon in Northern Ireland.
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