Driver on trial over Dover lorry deaths

The victims arrived in a sealed refrigerated lorry

The trial of the Dutch lorry driver charged with the manslaughter of 58 Chinese people who were trying to enter the UK illegally is now due to start on Wednesday.

The immigrants were found dead in the port of Dover, Kent last June after suffocating in the back of a lorry which had travelled from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge.

Perry Wacker, 32, of Rotterdam, Holland, denies manslaughter and attempting to smuggle people into the UK illegally.

He will appear in court alongside a Chinese interpreter who is on trial for a related charge.

The trial at Maidstone Crown Court had been expected to begin on Monday but has been delayed by legal argument.

British immigration staff found the 58 bodies - 54 men and four women - in lorry compartments used to carry tomatoes.

Two survivors

Two people were rescued alive from the lorry and are expected to give evidence at the driver's trial.

The 58 bodies were flown home to the Fujian province of China last month.

Home Secretary Jack Straw agreed that British taxpayers should meet the £150,000 cost of repatriating the bodies.

Nine people are also in custody in the Netherlands charged with people smuggling.