One of them was already dead by the time the police and paramedic personnel arrived, and the other died a few weeks later. They have now been identified as Gurbaksh Singh, 34, from Fatehabad and Chetan Walia, 22, from Jalandhar.

They were among the thousands of people who try to enter Europe, particularly Britain, illegally by paying international human smuggling gangs. Many of them go through hazardous conditions en route, including hiding in lorries that travel to Britain. In this case, five illegal immigrants were crammed into a toolbox of the lorry during the nine-hour journey to Britain from Holland. The lorry driver, Georgji Negatin, was jailed at the Chelmsford Crown Court in December 2007 for eight years after he was convicted of manslaughter.

Since the case began, officers from Essex Police tried to find out the names of the dead men, who had nothing on them to give clues of their identity.

Officers from the major investigation team worked with police in India and travelled there last June to collect blood samples from the families and make other enquiries.