What lies beneath - a cruel trade exposed

On a treacherous night two years ago, nearly two dozen Chinese illegal immigrants drowned in the freezing waters of Morecambe Bay in northwest England as they struggled to make a living picking cockles. On Friday, the families and survivors of those killed finally won some justice when a jury convicted the gangmaster of their deaths. Lin Liangren, 29, was found guilty on all 21 counts of manslaughter, as well as perverting the course of justice and conspiracy to facilitate illegal immigration. Zhao Xiaoqing, 20, Lin's girlfriend, and his cousin, Lin Muyong, 31, were also found guilty of facilitation. Lin Muyong was also found guilty of perverting justice. However, the jury acquitted Britons David Eden, 62, and his son David Anthony Eden, 34, of facilitation - helping illegal immigrants break Britain's immigration laws. The five defendants remained seated while the jury foreman read out the verdict. Lin Liangren listened to a translation on headphones as he was found guilty, but showed no emotion. The three are due to be sentenced on Tuesday. The police offer in charge of the investigation, Superintendent Mick Gradwell, said afterwards: 'We are very satisfied with the results from the guilty verdict. This has been a very long and complicated investigation.' The trial, at Preston Crown Court in Lancashire, examined the tragic circumstances of the night of February 5, 2004. Survivors, defendants, police, local officials and experts testified during the six-month trial that opened a window into the world of Chinese migrant workers in Britain, who often do the hard, low-paid work Britons don't want to do. The victims, aged 18 to 45, were part of a group of about 30 Chinese that had been working the cockle beds of Morecambe Bay, a scenic coastal area 320km northwest of London, when they were caught by rapidly rising tides. That night, 21 people drowned in the frigid waters, while another two are believed to have been swept out to sea, their bodies never found. Their deaths drew worldwide attention to the plight of illegal immigrants in Britain, who often work in virtual slavery. When the trial started in September, the jury, consisting of 10 men and two women, went out to the bay to study the tides, accompanied by lawyers for both sides and Judge Richard Henriques. Morecambe Bay covers about 310 sq km and consists of intertidal sand flats and mudflats. It is notorious for its tide, which is said to come in as fast as a galloping horse. The danger is compounded by the deep channels crisscrossing the area. Anyone still out on the flats when the tide comes in would be cut off from land when the channels behind them fill with water. On the night of the tragedy, the Chinese workers arrived at the bay at about 5pm and started heading out to pick cockles. Some returning local fisherman tried to warn them that the tide would start coming in within 90 minutes, the court heard. 'My friend and I tapped our watches to try and tell them about the time but they ignored us,' Trevor Fleming said. Unfortunately, the Chinese cocklers were originally farmers from Fujian province and unfamiliar with the tides. They also needed to work to pay off their debts to snakeheads. As they worked into the evening, Zhang Ping, 36, said it was so cold and windy it made her sick and she had to return to shore after raking up only enough cockles to fill one bag. Testifying with the help of an interpreter, Ms Zhang said she watched terrified as other shivering survivors started staggering back from the sea. Some cockle pickers had driven a pickup truck out on to the sands and overloaded it with bags of cockles. When they tried to drive back to shore, it became bogged in a channel. One survivor, Wei Simao, said: 'I could not open the pickup door ... I took off my clothes and swam.' They abandoned the truck and swam for shore. Four of them headed in one direction and survived; five others went another way and drowned. Ms Zhang said: 'I was waiting for them on the shore. It was very, very dark and though they said the tide was rising I couldn't see anything.' She has not been back to the sea since. 'After the incident, even when I hear waves raging I feel very terrified, I can't face it.' Another worker, Guo Jinfu, stayed on shore playing games on his mobile phone because there wasn't enough waterproof clothing to go around. But as the tides engulfed the workers, he got a desperate call from his friend Guo Binlong pleading for him to call for help and crying for his parents. Janie Bannister, Lin Muyong's former fiancee, described the scene as police appeared. 'There were police helicopters and flares going up. It was mayhem,' said Ms Bannister, at the time 24 weeks pregnant with Lin Muyong's child. She ended the relationship because she realised she was being used. Much of the trial focused on Lin Liangren, the gangmaster who organised the workers and arranged places for them to live. The prosecution depicted him as a callous, negligent boss who did not provide adequate clothing or equipment for his workers, and who failed to warn them about the danger of the rising tides. The court heard how he had already been arrested just weeks before the tragedy for running a gang of illegal cocklers, but was released after a night in jail. During the trial, he tried to pin the blame on one of the deceased. Under questioning by his lawyer, he said the first arrest made him decide to give up running the gang. 'Everybody was still worried about what happened, being arrested by the police, so they were all looking for different jobs,' he said, adding he sold his van and tools to Lin Liushui, one of the 21 dead, who he claimed was the actual gangmaster. But the survivors said Lin Liangren told them to lie and say he was not the boss. One survivor, Lin Guo, talked of how his family, who live in the same village in China as Lin Liangren's, was threatened. 'Last year, and the year before, I appeared in court. Someone went to my house and beat my dad, telling him I shouldn't go and act as a witness otherwise they would pay money for my head,' said Lin Guo, who testified behind a screen. Survivors also testified that although Lin Liangren supplied tools and clothing he never actually picked cockles himself. The trial offered a glimpse into the shadowy lives of illegal immigrants lead in England. Lin Liangren arrived in Britain in mid-September 2000 and had originally planned to attend an English course in Liverpool. But he ended up washing dishes in Chinese restaurants in Merseyside before turning to the profitable business of cockling. He extended his visa by paying GBP800 ($10,800) for an English course in Manchester in September 2003, but never attended class. As a cockling gangmaster, he paid each worker GBP8 per bag of cockles they picked, and sold them on for GBP20 each, making about GBP100 profit a day. Lin Liangren also needed a buyer for his cockles, but most local dealers he approached refused because they knew the British fishermen they dealt with would be hostile to anyone who worked with Chinese workers, the prosecution said. Finally, Lin Liangren found willing buyers in the Edens, the owners of the Liverpool Bay Fishing Company. In court, Lin Liangren denied ever knowing the Edens or selling cockles to them but police found evidence linking him with the Edens. Despite the tragedy, people have continued to put themselves at risk by cockling in the bay. A coastguard officer testified that emergency services have been called in several times since February 2004.