A mechanic accused over the deaths of 39 migrants has told jurors how he was moving back to Romania to get treatment for his disabled daughter.

On October 23 last year, 39 Vietnamese nationals aged 15 to 44 were found suffocated in the pitch black container as it was transported from Zeebrugge in Belgium to Purfleet in Essex.

The tragedy allegedly followed two successful people-smuggling runs on October 11 and 18 in which migrants were transferred to vehicles at Orsett for onward transportation to Dulwich in south-east London.

British Romanian Gheorghe Nica, 43, who lives in Langdon Hills, is accused of being a key player in organising drivers to pick up migrants on arrival in Britain.

The Old Bailey heard he has admitted a limited role in people smuggling but denied having anything to do with the deaths.

On Wednesday, his lawyer Aftab Jafferjee QC said: “One of the issues I identified for your consideration was the issue of Gheorghe Nica as an organiser or whether he was simply here waiting for the families’ passports.

“What I can tell you at this stage is that his family – and I anticipate this is undisputed – have emigrated to Romania.

“And they had all applied for their British passports because Mr Nica had been here for many years, long before this all happened.

“We will hear why they had all relocated suddenly to do with the condition of his youngest child.

“The passports never came until after he left and they were then redirected to Romania.”

The lawyer added that despite the “opprobrium of so many deaths and almost having to struggle through that awful fact“ the defence would endeavour to present a case and an explanation.

Giving evidence, Nica admitted arranging for a driver to deal with illegal immigrants on October 11 and 18 but denied doing it on October 14 and 22.

The defendant said he had worked as a chef before getting a job as a driver for Irish hauliers.

He said he met Irish haulier boss Ronan Hughes in 2009 and began working for him before working for himself up to 2018.

Nica told jurors he had been aware of illegal activity to do with evading VAT on beer and wine.

In 2018, Nica closed down his company and decided to relocate to Romania.

Asked why he decided to go to Romania, Nica said: “After 26 years being in this part of the world, Ireland and England, my kids had grown to here and go to school here and I had to move to Romania because my daughter’s treatment.

“She was born very very premature, 26 weeks and she had brain damage.”

As a result, the girl, now aged four, suffered from cerebral palsy.

Nica said treatment in England was “very expensive” prompting him to move to Romania.

Father-of-three Nica, from Basildon, has denied 39 counts of manslaughter along with lorry driver Eamonn Harrison, 23, of Co Down, who dropped off the trailer containing the victims at Zeebrugge on the afternoon of October 22.

Harrison, lorry driver Christopher Kennedy, 24, of Co Armagh, and Valentin Calota, 37, of Birmingham, have denied being part of a wider people-smuggling conspiracy, which Nica has admitted to.

Lorry driver Maurice Robinson, 26, who discovered the bodies, and Hughes, 41, have admitted the manslaughter of the migrants. Two other men have previously admitted involvement in people smuggling.