Mo Robinson: Monster or played by people smugglers?
Mo Robinson, an expectant father of twins, is being held over the discovery of 39 bodies in a refrigerated truck container. But why did he stop the truck just 30 minutes after picking it up?
Crime in Focus
Don't miss out on the headlines from Crime in Focus. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Mo Robinson’s pregnant girlfriend went to bed on Tuesday night in county Armagh Ireland, with her biggest worry likely to be what colour to paint her soon-to-be baby twins’ nursery.
By Wednesday night, her world had fallen apart as her partner was splashed across the world’s media as a suspect in a murder investigation into the deaths of 39 people who froze to death in the back of his truck, which he had described as “The Polar Express.”
Those poor souls were 31 men and eight women from China who have highlighted the terrible, disgusting human trafficking trade between Europe and the UK, where people pay up to $18,000 each.
Chinese gang’s role in death truck tragedy
Questions that need answering in truck tragedy
Keneally blasted for people smuggling claim
Life must be bad in China, despite the economic boom in that country, if you are willing to risk being smuggled into England in a freezer.
That refrigerated container, which was reportedly turned and capable of plunging to temperatures of -25 degrees, would have been worth almost $800,000 to the Irish organised criminal gangs who were suspected of plotting the deadly transport.
Australia has tackled this problem with its hard line attitude towards people smugglers, arguably Tony Abbott’s strongest legacy.
And while it has been a controversial, sometimes described as heartless policy, the alternative was laid bare in the back of a refrigerated container near a dock in Essex, east of London this week.
For Robinson’s girlfriend, the horror of seeing your partner held on suspicion of such a crime would only be made worse by asking yourself, did he actually do it?
The custom detailing on his truck, who paid for that?
There were pictures of her too, although her face was blurred but all her family, friends and acquaintances would recognise her.
Why did he stop the truck just 30 minutes after picking it up at the Waterglade Industrial Park?
There are claims that he was the person who called emergency services, and then passed out when he came to grips with the discovery.
It’s hard to think who else might have known to raise the alarm.
Some of Robinson’s friends on social media have claimed the migrants snuck into the container, but the container’s seal was checked before it left Belgium.
All these questions would have been asked again and again by thorough Essex Police officers determined to get to the ringleaders of this deadly trade.
MORE NEWS
Hundreds of tourists rush to climb Uluru on last day
Tot caught up in shooting was on mum’s lap
‘Miserable’: Meghan and Harry’s private pain
The UK’s National Crime Agency warned three years ago that people smugglers were using a route between Belgium and Purfleet, in Essex, because it was seen as an easier target.
Sadly, this was not the only potentially deadly transport entering the UK this week.
Another truck carrying nine migrants was found in Kent, too.
Boris Johnson desperately wants to get Brexit done to harden the UK’s borders.
There will surely be a crackdown but the demand for entry will still be met by someone callous enough to provide the supply.