Two men were kept for years as “captive employees” by a father from Cardiff and members of his family, a court has been told.
They were given jobs laying driveways, tarmacking, and doing building repairs – and were beaten if they fell short of what was expected of them, alleged prosecutor John Hipkin.
They lived in sheds or garages with no heating or running water, worked even when they were sick or injured, and if they escaped were “kidnapped” and brought back.
Paid in alcohol or tobacco
“For years they were paid in alcohol or tobacco or for small sums like £10 a day while living in appalling conditions without even basic facilities,” Mr Hipkin told a jury at Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday.
“They were denied basic self-respect – called ‘dossers’ and told if they were killed no-one would miss them.
“If they left they were hunted down and brought back.
“They were captive employees, treated like objects that could be abused.”
Charges denied
In the dock are Patrick Joseph Connors, 59, and Patrick Dean Connors, 39, both of Greenway Road, Rumney; William Connors, 39 of Trowbridge Green, Trowbridge ; and Lee Carbis, 34, also of Rumney .
All four deny a charge of “requiring another to perform forced labour” and William Connors also denies assault.
Father and son Patrick Joseph Connors and Patrick Dean Connors, also deny charges of kidnap, conspiracy to kidnap and causing actual bodily harm.
Mr Hipkin said the elder man was the head of what the prosecution were calling The Business.
Manual labour
“It involved tarmacing, paving, slabbing and general building work - the majority of it illegal,” he alleged.
“It was done for customers who were elderly or vulnerable at a price which was grossly exaggerated and in addition Patrick Joseph Connors also bought property and renovated it.
“All of it required manpower to carry it out and the two men worked for him for many years in conditions which did not conform to any normal employer/employee relationship.
“They would be beaten and threatened by him – working long hours of heavy manual labour only to be put to work again in the evenings at his properties.”
Concrete shed
He said victim number one, referred to only as Mr K and who suffers a degenerative eye condition, had been homeless in Cardiff around 1995 when Patrick Joseph Conners offered him food, accommodation, and work.
“In fact the accommodation was a concrete shed next to Connors’ bungalow in Marshfield where he was put to work from dawn until 11pm,” jurors were told.
Mr Hipkin said when Connors bought a farm in Peterstone Mr K was put to work renovating it, living on-site with “no heating, water, gas to cook, or toilet” then sent to a caravan park in west Wales to work on mobile homes.
When he injured his hand he still had to work and made three attempts to escape before his fourth was successful.
Vicious assault
Years later, when he read about a forced labour trial, he went to the police.
He told them he had tried escaping – first only as far as Llanrumney then later to Bristol before Connors senior turned up and took him to visit a man with a reputation for violence and threatened to set that man loose on him.
“The night of his return from Bristol, in the dark, knowing he couldn’t see, Patrick Joseph Connors viciously assaulted him – kicking, punching and stamping on him,” Mr Hipkin said.
His third “escape” to Pontypridd to “sleep in the woods” ended with him being brought back again and when, on another occasion, he got to Trowbridge, he said Connors bundled him into a car.
'Passed on'
Mr Hipkin told the court: “He jumped from that moving car and jumped in front of a bus to make it stop and told the driver.”
The second alleged victim, Michael Hughes, told police he was “passed on” to Connors by others, given a wooden shed to live in and had washed in a bucket outside with water from a cold tap.
“Severe beatings” were said to have become a feature of his life until the day he was arrested driving one of Connors’ trucks and taken to Scotland where he was wanted for outstanding fines.
Mr Hipkin said: “He spent a few days in prison there but felt free after his life in South Wales.
“He was collected by Connors and returned with promises of a better life but it never materialised.”
'Bundled into car'
Mr Hughes did have a short relationship with a woman but he told police officers that when she became pregnant Connors told her mother he was a drug user and said the pregnancy should end.
He is said to have escaped back to Scotland in the middle of the night but when he went to claim benefits was met by Connors senior, his son, and a third man.
“He was bundled into the boot of a car and driven to Wales, put in a garage and beaten,” the prosecutor said.
“Then life returned to ‘normal’ with him working long hours and assaulted if his work was not satisfactory.”
The men will be called to give evidence at the court later this week.
The case continues.
see-http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/alleged-victims-forced-labour-were-11209929
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