Mechanic, 43, accused of killing 39 Vietnamese migrants says ‘burner’ phone was for girlfriends

A mechanic accused of killing 39 Vietnamese migrants who suffocated in a lorry has told a court he had a ‘burner,’ phone because he had four girlfriends, and not because of a people smuggling operation. 

Gheorghe Nica, 43, is on trial at the Old Bailey charged with the manslaughter of the Vietnamese people who suffocated in a trailer en route to Essex from Belgium.

The British Romanian has admitted arranging onward transport for two successful runs but denied being involved in the tragedy on October 23 last year.

The prosecution has alleged Nica was a key organiser who used ‘dirty’ pay-as-you-go phones for his ‘dirty’ business.

But giving evidence, Nica, of Basildon in Essex, denied it, saying he had an unregistered phone to contact four girlfriends in and around the London area.

The divorced father-of-three has claimed he was waiting for British passports to arrive when he was roped into people smuggling on two occasions by haulier boss Ronan Hughes.

Questioned about his phone, Nica said. ‘It’s the same with other people, I have girlfriends.’

Gheorghe Nica, 43, is on trial at the Old Bailey charged with the manslaughter of the Vietnamese people who suffocated in a trailer en route to Essex from Belgium. He accepts being involved in two other people smuggling operations

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones noted that whether or not Nica had four girlfriends, he would ‘still end up spending every night’ with his friend Marius Draghici.

He said: ‘The use of (the phone) to make contact with these girlfriends of yours, are you saying that’s why you wanted in effect a burner phone?

‘Were the girlfriends the reason for that?’

Nica replied: ‘Yes. (In) 2017 I divorced my wife so I don’t have very good relations with her.’

The prosecutor suggested Nica used the phone to arrange the shipment of migrants.

The defendant denied it, saying: ‘If I was in people smuggling business I would buy a new phone every time, which I did not.’

Mr Emlyn Jones said Nica had used his pay-as-you-go phone to contact his co-defendant Valentin Calota.

Nica had allegedly recruited him to pick up migrants in Essex on October 18 last year and drive them to south-east London in a van for £700.

Nica (left) has admitted being involved in a people smuggling plot but denies 39 counts of manslaughter, along with Eamonn Harrison (inside right), 23, of Co Down, who transported the trailer to Zeebrugge port

Nica (left) has admitted being involved in a people smuggling plot but denies 39 counts of manslaughter, along with Eamonn Harrison (inside right), 23, of Co Down, who transported the trailer to Zeebrugge port

In his evidence, Nica claimed that when he offered Calota the job, he told him it was a load of cigarettes, not people.

The prosecutor said: ‘That’s absolute rubbish, Mr Nica, you are lying to us.

‘What if Mr Calota turns up and says I’m going to leave?

‘With people – living breathing people – first of all you have got to get them out so they don’t suffocate and die. You need everything in place so nothing can go wrong.’

Nica insisted that if Calota had refused to do the job on the spot, then Hughes would have stepped in.

Mr Jones responded: ‘This is a lie that you are telling to try to help out your mate, Mr Calota.’

Jurors also heard that Nica called lorry driver Maurice Robinson, who discovered the bodies of the migrants after picking up the trailer at Purfleet early on October 23.

Nica told jurors: ‘I got in contact with Robinson three hours before the disaster.

‘If I knew what’s going on, what job they have, I would never ever give him my number and say ‘listen, call me if you need me’.’

Mr Emlyn Jones said: ‘According to you, whose people are you helping to smuggle? Whose business is it? Who is making the money from it?’

The defendant replied: ‘Ronan.’

Nica has admitted being involved in a people smuggling plot but denies 39 counts of manslaughter, along with Eamonn Harrison, 23, of Co Down, who transported the trailer to Zeebrugge port.

Harrison, lorry driver Christopher Kennedy, 24, of Co Armagh, and Calota, 37, of Birmingham, have denied people smuggling.

Jurors have heard that Robinson, 26, of Craigavon in Northern Ireland, and Hughes, 41, of Co Armagh, have admitted the manslaughters. 

Jurors heard 15 Vietnamese stowaways sailed from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge to Purfleet in Essex on 18 October.

Jurors today heard Nica met with Hughes and Robinson after 15 Vietnamese stowaways successfully made the trip from Zeebrugge to Purfleet, just days before 39 died in a lorry (pictured)

Jurors today heard Nica met with Hughes and Robinson after 15 Vietnamese stowaways successfully made the trip from Zeebrugge to Purfleet, just days before 39 died in a lorry (pictured)

Kennedy allegedly picked them up, matching the route of the fatal journey five days later.

Hours later Nica met with Hughes and Robinson together with alleged accomplice Marius Draghici, who is not before the court, in the bar of the Ibis hotel in Thurrock.

The four toasted the success of the operation before moving to a suite upstairs where a cash handover occurred, the court heard.

Nica accepted the transfer had happened but denied counting the money or knowing specific details about the rates paid by Hughes for the criminal activity.

Kennedy, of Corkley Road, Northern Ireland, and Calota, of Cossington Road, Birmingham, each deny conspiring to assist unlawful immigration between 1 May 2018 and 24 October 2019.

The trial continues.

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