Trucking Boss Gets 7 Years for Role in 2019 Smuggling That Led to Deaths of 39 Vietnamese Migrants

Police escort the truck that was found to contain a large number of dead bodies as they move it from an industrial estate in Thurrock, south England, on Oct. 23, 2019. Alastair Grant/AP Photo

LONDON—A trucking company boss who claimed he thought he was smuggling booze into Britain was sentenced Thursday to seven years in prison for his role in a human trafficking ring in which 39 Vietnamese migrants suffocated in a cargo container in 2019.

Caolan Gormley was the last of 11 people to be convicted in London in the migrant smuggling scheme. Five of the suspects were convicted of manslaughter.