Carndonagh man could face retrial over people smuggling charge

 

Two men accused of smuggling 35 immigrants in to the UK in a container in which one man died are facing a possible retrial, the Belfast Telegraph is reporting.
Four defendants stood trial at Basildon Crown Court after denying organising the operation after 35 Afghan Sikhs, including 15 children, were found inside the container at Tilbury Docks, Essex, on August 16 of last year.
40-year-old Meet Singh Kapoor one of the 35 Afghan migrants, was found dead in the container at Tilbury Docks, Essex, in August last year.
The jury failed to reach verdicts on 34-year-old Stephen McLaughlin, who lives in Limavady and originally from Carndonagh and 47-year-old Martin McGlinchey of Derryloughan Road, Coalisland Co. Tyrone.
They both denied conspiring to facilitate illegal entry into the UK.
Timothy Murphy, 33 from Derry, was previously found not guilty of conspiring to facilitate illegal entry into the UK.
Taha Sharif, who is Kurdish and was living in Tottenham, London, was convicted of the same charge.
He will be sentenced at a later date which has not yet been announced.
The retrial is expected to take place at the beginning of next year.