A man accused of being a ringleader in the gang that organised a human smuggling operation to Co Wexford which led to the deaths of eight people failed to appear in court yesterday in the Belgian city of Bruges.
Mr Flamour Domi (45) who is not in custody, was reported to have taken ill with a heart condition a day after the prosecution called for him to be jailed for 10 years.
Mr Domi's son, Donald (20), yesterday admitted taking part in the operation in December 2001 but insisted his father was not involved.
"I know I have done something wrong but my father had nothing to do with it. I love my parents," he said.
Mr Domi said he felt "very bad" about the deaths of eight out of 13 illegal immigrants he had helped to load into a container outside Brussels on their way to Ireland.
The victims, who thought they were going on a three-hour journey to Dover, died from lack of oxygen during more than 100 hours spent in the almost airless container.
Pleading guilty to human trafficking and involuntary bodily harm, Mr Domi denied he was a member of a criminal organisation and pleaded not guilty to a charge of manslaughter.
Mr Domi said he had played a minor role in helping to organise human trafficking operations for a period of three months before the fatal journey to Co Wexford.
The presiding judge, Ms Els D'Hooge, accepted that Mr Domi was not a ringleader but she described as unsatisfactory his explanation of intense telephone contact between himself and his father during smuggling operations.
Mr Domi identified Mr Mohammed Kebdani (31) as a taxi-driver who transported the victims from the centre of Brussels to a truck stop where they entered the container.
Mr Kebdani and two other taxi- drivers accused of taking part in the operation admitted that, over a period of months, they had driven people at the request of Mr Domi and others accused of involvement in human trafficking.
But they insisted they were not aware of the nature of the operation and regarded the journeys as ordinary taxi fares.
Mr Johan Schroven (50), who drove the container from the truck stop to the port at Zeebrugge, told the court he did not hear the immigrants entering the container and was not aware of their presence during the journey.
There is no evidence that Mr Schroven had contact with any of the other defendants but prosecutors are demanding that he be jailed for neglecting to ensure that the container was properly sealed.
The hearing ended yesterday but a verdict is not expected for some weeks.
