Five on trial over Chinese cockler deaths
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-09-20 09:06

A suspected Chinese gangmaster went on trial for manslaughter on Monday over the deaths of 21 illegal immigrants, drowned as they gathered shellfish on mudflats off the northern English coast, the Reuters reported.

Zhao Xiaoqing arrives at Preston Crown Court on September 15. [AFP]

The deaths last year highlighted the plight of immigrant -- and often illegal -- labour working in conditions close to slavery and unable to appeal for protection under laws.

Chinese national Lin Liang Ren is charged with 21 counts of manslaughter and assisting illegal entry.

Two other Chinese nationals, Zhao Xiao Qing and Lin Mu Yong, and two Britons, a father and son both named David Anthony Eden, are on trial on charges of assisting illegal entry. All five have pleaded not guilty.

"It is the prosecution case that their deaths were caused by the criminal negligence of the defendant Lin Liang Ren," said lead prosecutor Timothy Holroyde as he opened the case.

"He was the gangmaster controlling the cocklepickers, he was responsible for them and he had completely failed to take proper care for their safety as they worked in the cold and dark," he added. He said Lin had fled the scene and given a false name when questioned later by police.

The 21 Chinese men and women aged between 18 and 45 were caught by a fast rising tide and drowned when gathering cockles in Morecambe Bay some 200 miles northwest of London in February 2004.

Holroyde said all 21 who died, as well as others who survived, were illegal immigrants who had been aided by all five defendants in living and obtaining work in Britain illegally.

The bodies of the 21 -- all but one from Fujian province -- were flown back to China for burial last November. Two other Chinese people are missing and presumed dead, although their bodies have not been found.

BEAUTIFUL BUT DEADLY

Morecambe Bay is beautiful but deadly, with fast rising tides and quicksands. Tourists are advised to hire local guides, and even fishermen well-versed in its secrets have lost horses and tractors sucked down into the sands.

The bay is said to hold millions of pounds worth of cockles, a small mollusc in big demand in southern Europe as a delicacy.

Prices have shot up to 1,500 pounds per tonne from 200-300 pounds in recent years after mechanical harvesting was banned in the Netherlands, which was Europe's only other supplier apart from England.

But the high prices have also caused a cockle-picking gold rush and with it rampant lawlessness.

"At these levels you get every hoodlum under the sun having a field day, and there is a big element of intimidation in this," said cockle factory owner Rory Parsons.

Some of the gatherers are independent locals who can make a lot of money very quickly.

But some gathering is done by gangs of illegal immigrants deeply in debt to the criminals who smuggled them into the country and forced to work for a pittance while the smugglers and their allies pocket the profits.

Unlike many cockle beds, which are regulated with clear open and closed seasons, Morecambe Bay is open to all comers.

The trial is expected to last up to four months.

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