Essex lorry deaths: alleged gang ringleader pleads guilty to manslaughters of 39 people

Marius Mihai Draghici yet to be sentenced over deaths of Vietnamese nationals found in trailer in Purfleet

An alleged ringleader of a people-smuggling gang has pleaded guilty to the manslaughters of 39 Vietnamese nationals - men, women and children - more than three years after they were found dead in a lorry trailer in Essex.

The bodies of the people, who had agreed to pay up to 13,000 each for a VIP" smuggling service in hope of a better life in Britain, were found in a container transported by ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium to Purfleet.