A MAN has been found guilty of smuggling 35 immigrants into Britain in a container.
A jury at Basildon Crown Court unanimously found Taha Sharif, 38, of High Cross Road, Tottenham, guilty of conspiring to facilitate illegal entry into the UK after the Afghan Sikhs were discovered at Tilbury Docks.
One man, Meet Singh Kapoor, 40, was found dead inside the container and Basildon Hospital subsequently declared an emergency in tending to the rest of the group, many of whom were young children.
Sharif will be sentenced at a later date.
The jury has not yet reached a verdict on other defendants Stephen McLaughlin, 34, and Timothy Murphy, 33, both of Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Martin McGlinchey, 47, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
They have been told a majority verdict will now be accepted.
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