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Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Cardiff,South Wales - Family jailed for total of 27 years after two men were used like 'slaves'

From left: Patrick Joseph Connors, Patrick Dean Connors, Lee Carbis and William Connors
From left Patrick Joseph Connors, Patrick Dean Connors, Lee Carbis and William Connors

Head of the family Patrick Joseph Connors, 59, was jailed for 14 years after being found guilty of requiring Michael Hughes to perform forced or compulsory labour

A business owner who used two vulnerable men like "slaves" has been jailed for 14 years.
Cardiff Crown Court heard Patrick Joseph Connors, 59, forced Scottish man Michael John Hughes to work for his family business for more than 20 years – paying him as little as £5 a day for back-breaking work.
Jurors were told Mr Hughes was beaten "all the time" if he did not do as he was told and was made to live in appalling conditions.
A second man, whose identity cannot be revealed for legal reasons, was kidnapped four times after his attempts to escape failed.
Wales News Service Ltd.Patrick Joseph Connors arrives at Cardiff Crown Court
The 41-year-old has been diagnosed with brittle bone disease osteoporosis after years of malnutrition.
Connors, of Rumney , Cardiff, was convicted with his son Patrick Dean Connors and nephew William Connors of requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour.
Patrick Dean Connors was handed a six and a half-year prison sentence, while William Connors was jailed for four years.
Patrick Joseph Connors' son-in-law Lee Christopher Carbis, 34, of Trowbridge, was cleared of the compulsory labour charge against Mr Hughes but found guilty of kidnapping Mr K.
He was jailed for two-and-a-half years.
Wales News Service Ltd.Lee Carbis arrives at Cardiff Crown Court
'They were completely controlled through intimidation, threats, and violence' An insight into the investigation that brought jail terms for family who forced men to work
Judge Neil Bidder QC said the trio, who operated a tarmacking business based at a farm in Rumney, treated their victims as little more than objects.
He said: "All the offences which you, Patrick Joseph Connors, have been convicted of are examples of conduct designed to keep two vulnerable men in what can only be described as modern-day slavery – in the case of Michael John Hughes, for 26 years.
"By the end of that time he had been completely conditioned to being used by you.
"Both he and the other victim were selected for their vulnerability. Both were required to do heavy manual labour for very long hours, seven days a week, for very low pay – well below the minimum wage."
Wales News Service Ltd.
Wales News Service Ltd.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/family-jailed-total-27-years-11380738
Wales News Service Ltd.Patrick Dean Connors arrives at Cardiff Crown Court

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