Essex Migrant Deaths: charge of human trafficking against NI man withdrawn, court hears

A human trafficking charge against a 22-year-old from County Down has been withdrawn by United Kingdom authorities, the Court of Appeal in Dublin heard. Eamon Ronald Harrison from Mayobridge is contesting his extradition to face 39 counts of manslaughter and conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration relating to 39 migrants found dead in a sealed trailer in Essex last October. UK prosecutors have discontinued pursuing one count of conspiracy to commit human trafficking under the Modern Slavery Act. The withdrawal will streamline the extradition challenge hearing scheduled for 7 May. Harrison is alleged to have delivered the refrigerated unit, in which the bodies were discovered in an industrial park in Grays on 23 October, to a Belgian port before its onward journey to Britain. A High Court judge previously ordered Harrison's extradition in January, noting he was identified as the driver and that evidence suggested the migrants were not free to leave upon arrival in the UK.