KARUNA SHINSHO, ASIA TONIGHT: A truck driver convicted of the deaths of 58 illegal immigrants from China has been sentenced to 14 years in prison. The immigrants were found dead in the back of his produce truck in Dover, England, last June. For more details, Matthew Chance is in Maidstone, England. Matthew?</s>MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Karuna. That's right, you join us on a very windy and rainy day here in Maidstone. Within the last hour, those sentences have, indeed, been handed down for this very high-profile case, which is being watched very closely not just here in Britain, but also across Europe and elsewhere, following the tragic events last June when 58 ethnic Chinese illegal immigrants were found suffocated to death in the back of a truck as it was trying to bring them illegally into the United Kingdom. Well, for the 58 counts of manslaughter that he was found guilty of earlier today, Perry Wacker, the Dutch national who was driving that truck, received a sentence of six years for each individual count of manslaughter. But the judge said that those six-year sentences should run concurrently, which means he's only serving a total for six years for manslaughter. But he also was found guilty earlier today of conspiracy to facilitate the illegal importation of immigrants into the United Kingdom. And for that crime, he received the more severe eight years. The judge there delivering a very powerful message that that kind of crime, to be involved in the organized gangs that profit from human trafficking across the globe, won't be tolerated here in Britain, Karuna.</s>SHINSHO: OK, Matthew, thank you. END TO ORDER VIDEOTAPES AND TRANSCRIPTS OF CNN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMING, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE THE SECURE ONLINE ORDER FROM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Truck Driver Perry Wacker Sentenced In Deaths Of Chinese Immigrants