A lorry driver has denied links to alleged human trafficking after the deaths of 39 Vietnamese people in England in October.

Christopher Kennedy, 23, appeared in the dock at the Old Bailey on Friday morning surrounded by four guards.

He pleaded not guilty to conspiring to commit human trafficking offences between 1 May 2018 and 24 October 2019 by arranging or facilitating the travel of other people with a view to exploitation. He also denied conspiring to assist unlawful immigration over the same period.

Kennedy appeared before Mr Justice Edis alongside his co-defendant Maurice Robinson, who joined proceedings via video-link from Belmarsh prison.

Ten teenagers, including two 15-year-old boys, were among the 39 Vietnamese nationals – eight females and 31 males – who were found dead inside a refrigerated container in the early hours of 23 October.

The finding came after emergency services were called to an industrial estate in Grays, Essex, shortly after a lorry arrived on a ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium.

Kennedy, from Darkley in County Armagh, was remanded in custody after he made his pleas.

Robinson, 25, who is known as Mo, had previously admitted conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration between 1 May 2018 and 24 October 2019 and acquiring cash unlawfully.

However, the defendant, from Craigavon, has yet to enter pleas to 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to commit human trafficking and transferring criminal property. The names of other alleged co-conspirators were subject to reporting restrictions.

A further hearing was fixed for 16 March, with a provisional trial on 5 October next year. It is scheduled to take up to eight weeks.

Elsewhere, the high court in Dublin was told there was a link between Eamonn Harrison, 23, a lorry driver from County Down, and the deaths of the Vietnamese people.

The UK is seeking his extradition to face 39 charges of manslaughter and two of conspiracy. A lawyer for the Irish state said there was a legal precedent to extradite where the evidence is circumstantial, the BBC reported.