Horrific scenes from the inside of the lorry trailer where dozens of Vietnamese people suffocated show how they desperately attempted to batter their way out.

Gheorghe Nica, 43, from Basildon, and lorry driver Eamonn Harrison, 24, from County Down, were yesterday found guilty of 39 counts of manslaughter.

The migrants had paid around £13,000 a head for a ‘luxury VIP route’ in the UK, with promise of a better life.

But instead the people, aged between 15 and 44, were all found dead in the back of a trailer in Essex on October 23, 2019.

They had died in sweltering temperatures as the airtight container was shipped from Zeebrugge to Purfleet.

The court was told how some people used a metal pole to try to punch a hole through the roof or attract attention.

But the attempts were futile and the first police officer on the scene described finding half-naked bodies ‘closely packed’ together lying in the trailer, some ‘frothing at the mouth’.

Mobile phones recovered from the victims showed how they had tried to raise the alarm and left goodbye messages for loved ones as they ran out of air.

Nguyen Tho Tuan, 28, told his wife, children and mum: ‘It’s Tuan. I am sorry. I cannot take care of you.

‘I am sorry. I am sorry. I cannot breathe. I want to come back to my family. Have a good life.’

Another male victim tape recorded himself saying: I can’t breathe. I’m sorry. I have to go now,’ adding after a long pause: ‘It’s all my fault.’

Moments later, another voice could be heard saying: ‘He’s dead.’

One couple among the dead, Tran Hai Loc and Nguyen Thi Van, both 35, were discovered holding hands when the bodies were removed from the lorry.

They were carefully taken from the trailer, still holding hands, and transported to hospital together.

Nica and Harrison were also convicted of their part in the people-smuggling operation alongside lorry driver Christopher Kennedy, 24, from County Armagh, and Valentin Calota, 38, from Birmingham.

The verdicts bring the total number of people convicted in the UK to eight, including haulier boss Ronan Hughes, 41, of Armagh, and 26-year-old lorry driver Maurice Robinson, of Craigavon, who admitted manslaughter.

The network, led by Nica and and Hughes, had been operating for at least 18 months, despite repeatedly coming to the attention of authorities.

Prosecutors are considering charges against a further three people.

The maximum sentence for people-smuggling is 14 years in prison with manslaughter carrying a possible life sentence.

The victims were: Dinh Dinh Binh, 15, Nguyen Minh Quang, 20, Nguyen Huy Phong, 35, Le Van Ha, 30, Nguyen Van Hiep, 24, Bui Phan Thang, 37, Nguyen Van Hung, 33, Nguyen Huy Hung, 15, Nguyen Tien Dung, 33, Pham Thi Tra My, 26, Tran Khanh Tho, 18, Nguyen Van Nhan, 33, Vo Ngoc Nam, 28, Vo Van Linh, 25, Nguyen Ba Vu Hung, 34, Vo Nhan Du, 19, Tran Hai Loc, 35, Tran Manh Hung, 37, Nguyen Thi Van, 35, Bui Thi Nhung, 19, Hoang Van Tiep, 18, Tran Thi Ngoc, 19, Phan Thi Thanh, 41, Tran Thi Tho, 21, Duong Minh Tuan, 27, Pham Thi Ngoc Oanh, 28, Tran Thi Mai Nhung, 18, Le Trong Thanh, 44, Nguyen Ngoc Ha, 32, Hoang Van Hoi, 24, Tran Ngoc Hieu, 17, Cao Tien Dung, 37, Dinh Dinh Thai Quyen, 18, Dong Huu Tuyen, 22, Nguyen Dinh Luong, 20, Cao Huy Thanh, 37, Nguyen Trong Thai, 26, Nguyen Tho Tuan, 25, and Nguyen Dinh Tu, 26.

The defendants did not react in the dock as the verdicts were given, with Harrison and Calota convicted by a majority of 10 to one.

Mr Justice Sweeney adjourned sentencing of all the defendants to January 7, 8 and 11.

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