The head of a group of Chinese cockle pickers was found guilty today of the manslaughter of 21 workers who drowned off northwestern England in February 2004.
Lin Liang Ren had taken them to the scenic but treacherous Morecambe Bay in Lancashire where, at low tide, a rich harvest of the lucrative shellfish can be dug out of the sands.
As the tide turned and began to rush back to shore, they found themselves stranded far from dry land, eventually 23 of them drowned. Two bodies were never found.
Preston Crown Court also found Lin guilty of perverting the course of justice and facilitating illegal entry into the country after a trial lasting nearly six months.
The Chinese men and women, smuggled into England to live effectively as slaves, drowned due to the "goldrush fever" for cockles, lead prosecutor Tim Holroyde told the court when the trial opened last September.
The sands of Morecambe Bay are said to hold millions of euros worth of cockles, a small edible mollusc that is especially popular in Spain.
"It was horrendous for them. There, one-and-a-half to two miles out in the bay, there was no way they could reach land," said Det Supt Mick Gradwell said outside the court.
"It was bitter and they'd been working hard. Listening to some of the phone calls (they made) you can hear the harrowing noises as people tried to save themselves," he added.
The court also found Lin's girlfriend Zhao Xiao Qing guilty of perverting the course of justice and facilitating illegal entry, while his cousin Lin Mu Yong was also guilty of facilitating illegal entry.
Manslaughter carries a possible life jail term as does perverting the course of justice. Sentencing is due on Tuesday.
The court cleared an English father and son, both named David Anthony Eden, of the same immigration charge, but the judge insisted they pay their own costs.
All five had denied all the charges.
PA