Christopher Kennedy, 23, has been charged with human trafficking offences (Picture: PA/ Getty)

A man from Northern Ireland has been charged with human trafficking offences after 39 migrants were found dead in a lorry container.

Christopher Kennedy, 23, from Darkley, Co Armagh, was arrested in the early hours of November 22 on the M40.

He has now been charged with conspiracy to arrange or facilitate the travel of people with a view to exploitation.

Officers have also charged him with conspiracy to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law.


He will appear at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on November 25.

The bodies of 39 migrants were found on October 23 (Picture: PA)

Kennedy was arrested on Friday (Picture: AFP)

Kennedy’s arrest comes just as it emerged that one teenager found dead in the refrigerated lorry container in Essex had gone missing from an asylum centre in the Netherlands.



The country’s Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) told local media the teen had run away from a shelter for vulnerable migrants.

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The youngster was among 10 teenagers, including two 15-year-old boys, whose bodies were found in an industrial park in Grays on October 23.

The Vietnamese and British government are discussing repatriation of the victims.

The lorry had arrived in Purfleet on a ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium, where it was then picked up by a cab from Northern Ireland.

Mo Robinson, 25, has been charged with 39 counts of manslaughter

The Vietnamese and British government are discussing repatriation of the victims (Picture: PA)

Mo Robinson, 25, from Northern Ireland, has been charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and money laundering.

He is expected to appear at the Old Bailey on November 25.

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Extradition proceedings have also been launched in Ireland to bring Eamonn Harrison, 22, from Mayobridge in Newry, Co Down, to the UK.

He appeared at Dublin’s Central Criminal Court on Thursday after he was arrested on a European arrest warrant in respect of 39 counts of manslaughter, one count of human trafficking and one count of assisting unlawful immigration.

Detectives have also urged Ronan Hughes, 40, and his brother Christopher, 34, from Armagh, Northern Ireland, to hand themselves in.

The pair are both wanted on suspicion of manslaughter and human trafficking.

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