A lorry driver has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 39 people, who were found dead in the back of a refrigerated container in England.

Maurice Robinson (25), who is from Craigavon in Northern Ireland, entered his plea at the Old Bailey in London.

Emergency services discovered the bodies of the Vietnamese nationals at an industrial estate in Essex, shortly after the lorry arrived on a ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium in the early hours of October 23rd last year.

The men, women and children killed included 10 teenagers, two of them 15-year-old boys.

Five men charged after an investigation by Essex Police appeared for a virtual hearing in London.

File photo of police activity at the Waterglade Industrial Park in Essex, England after 39 bodies were found inside a lorry container on the industrial estate | Image: Aaron Chown/PA Wire/PA Images

Robinson had previously admitted conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and acquiring criminal property.

At the hearing on Wednesday, the truck driver also admitted 39 counts of manslaughter on or before October 24th last year.

Robinson, who denied a further charge of transferring criminal property, appeared at court via video link alongside four other co-defendants.

British-Romanian man Gheorghe Nica (43) with an address in England denied 39 counts of manslaughter.

He also denied one count of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration between May 1st 2018 and October 24th 2019.

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of lorry driver Maurice Robinson on video-link at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court in Essex, England | Image: Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire/PA Images

Romanian national Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga (27) also with an address in England denied a charge of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.

While 23-year-old Christopher Kennedy of Corkley Road in Darkley, Co Armagh has previously denied conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.

Valentin Calota (37) with an address in England was not asked to enter a plea to the charge of conspiring to assist unlawful immigration.

Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones QC said a human trafficking conspiracy charge was being dropped in relation to Kennedy and Robinson.

He requested three weeks to decide whether to proceed with a trial against Robinson on the outstanding charge he faced.

The other defendants are scheduled to face a trial lasting up to eight weeks from October 5th.

The court hearing was conducted virtually, with most lawyers and court reporters attending by Skype.