AN IRISH lorry driver boasted "I hate foreigners" on his Facebook page before 39 Vietnamese migrants were found dead in the back of his truck.

Maurice Robinson, 25, admitted the manslaughter of 39 people found dead in the back of a refrigerated truck earlier this month.

Lorry driver Mo Robinson has admitted 39 counts of manslaughter

4 The migrants were found in the back of a lorry in Essex Credit: PA:Press Association

The 25-year-old, of Craigavon, Co Armagh, previously admitted conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and acquiring criminal property.

The bodies of the Vietnamese nationals were discovered by emergency services at an industrial estate in Essex, England.

The find was made shortly after the lorry arrived on a ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium in the early hours of October 23 last year.

Among the men, women and children were ten teenagers, two of them 15-year-old boys.

In Robinson's now deleted Facebook page, he made vile comments about foreigners being "stuffed in the back of a lorry".

In a 2011 Facebook post, unearthed by the Daily Star on Sunday, he wrote: "I actually hate foreigners. Do us all a huge favour and go home."

In another rant, he said: "It's just the truth! They come here and then act like they own the place when they shouldn't even be here."

Chillingly, he also wrote: "Stuffed away in the back of a lorry then come and take everything that is supposed to be ours!"

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Robinson's co-defendant Gheorghe Nica, 43, of Basildon, Essex, denied 39 counts of manslaughter.

He also denied one count of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration between May 1 2018 and October 24 2019.

Three men charged with other offences in connection with the deaths also appeared at the Old Bailey via video link.

They face a trial due to begin on October 5.

4 It is understood the bodies were dead in the back of the lorry for 12 hours Credit: AFP or licensors