On the morning of 23 October 2019, news broke that a lorry containing 39 dead people had been found at Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, Essex. The BBC started an online live feed as the incident unfolded. Aerial shots showed a large white container lorry with the driver’s door still open, while dark green privacy screens protected the dignity of the dead as officers moved around in white overalls.
Swiftly, politicians began referring to the incident as a case of ‘people trafficking’. At 10:07 a.m. the local MP tweeted “Sickening news of 39 people found dead in a container in Grays. People trafficking is a vile and dangerous business.” Three hours later, Home Secretary Priti Patel evoked the same idea in a statement to the House of Commons. She described the discovery as “tragic” and stated that law enforcement agencies were working “tirelessly to secure our borders against a wide range of threats, including people trafficking”. This spurred further speeches from politicians referring to “this disgusting trade”. The message from Westminster was clear: this tragic incident should be understood as a case of human trafficking. The media followed this lead, with every major paper, TV and radio programme framing the story as a trafficking incident.
Yet today, as the Old Bailey trial of those involved begins, not a single defendant is being charged with trafficking. Instead, defendants are accused of “conspiracy to assist unlawful migration”, manslaughter, and other more minor offences. A human trafficking charge had originally been made against two of the accused – Maurice Robinson and Christopher Kennedy – but this has been dropped. Why have prosecutors chosen not to bring trafficking charges in what initially seemed, at least in the court of public opinion, to be such a clear-cut case?
