One of the things about these stories that always disturbs me - it was the same with that little lad whose drowned body was splashed all over the news a few years ago - is that the poor sods were invariably already in a safe country.

Now, I understand why the United Kingdom is attractive to a lot of migrants, just as I understand why Germany and Sweden are, but it still makes me sad to think that people would forego an already-established security in the hope of getting just that tiny bit more, with such awful attendant risks.

Is there a solution? I don't think there is - at least, not in a liberal, democratic nation. The kind of "hostile environment" that wingnuts talk about won't discourage people who are willing to risk death to get where they want to be, but will make the lives of everybody else unnecessarily miserable. Meanwhile open borders are incompatible with a comprehensive welfare system.

We'll probably just have to get used to hearing about dead bodies on the beaches of Sussex and in the truck stops of Essex.

The mass fatalities, of 56 men and two women, were 19 years ago.

The dead were Chinese nationals who had been smuggled in to Dover through Europe.

The investigation which followed led to a web of criminal connections in China, Turkey, the Netherlands and Britain organised by a Chinese snakehead gang headed by a woman operating from Rotterdam.

she was sentenced to three years in jail by a Dutch court in 2003 for her part in the plot. The Dutch lorry driver, Perry Wacker, received a jail sentence of 14 years for manslaughter at Maidstone Crown Court.

Yes, I doubt it would stick, given what we now know (unless there's more that we don't). But he's being held on suspicion of murder, which will justify holding him for a certain time, with a court's approval, until formal charges can be made. Being in charge of a lorry full of dead people would probably convince most magistrates to grant extra time in custody while investigations proceed.

She added: "A 48 year-old man from Northern Ireland was arrested at Stansted Airport earlier today on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic people and on suspicion of manslaughter.

“It follows the arrests of a 38 year-old man and a 38 year-old woman from Warrington during warrants executed in Cheshire overnight. They are currently in custody also on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic people and on suspicion of manslaughter."

An international investigation is now underway to establish how the 31 men and eight women, all believed to be Chinese nationals, were brought into the UK from the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium early on Wednesday morning.

...............

Essex Police believes the trailer travelled from Zeebrugge to the port of Purfleet. The lorry cab is thought to have entered the UK at Holyhead in north Wales on a ferry from Dublin.
Irish company Global Trailer Rentals Ltd (GTR) confirmed it owned the refrigerated part of the lorry and a spokesman said the company was “shellshocked” and “gutted” by the news.
The firm said the trailer had been leased on October 15 from its rentals yard in Co Monaghan, in the Republic of Ireland, at a rate of 275 euro (£237) a week.
It said it provided police with information about the person and company that leased the trailer, as well as offering to make tracking data available.
Three addresses have been searched in Northern Ireland as part of the probe, while warrants were also carried out in Cheshire.

China has called for joint efforts to counter human smuggling, while vigils have been held in London and Belfast to pay tribute to the victims.

Attempted Murder - Causation:
The prosecution must show a causal link between the act/omission and the death. The act or omission must be a substantial cause of death, but it need not be the sole or main cause of death.