Traveller gang kept 18 slaves in squalor for 25 years while living life of luxury
A TRAVELLER family kept 18 homeless men as slaves for more than 25 years, a court heard.
The gang made more than £1.5million from the shocking exploitation, which saw their captives living in ‘fear, misery and squalor’, using it to fund their lavish lifestyle.
The victims – one of whom had been held by the family for 26 years – were lured by the promise of food, free accommodation and work.
But instead they were forced to live in horrendous conditions and kept under ‘total control’ through threats of violence, along with drugs and alcohol.
They were forced to live in cramped caravans with no access to running water or toilets, and to work for little or no money surfacing driveways.
Their bank accounts were managed by their captors, travellers from the Rooney family.
Meanwhile the Rooneys lived the high life, taking luxury holidays to Barbados, Australia, Egypt and Mexico and splashing out on high performance BMW cars.
Some of the family also had cosmetic surgery, including breast enlargements, thanks to their illegal funds, while their children were sent to Manchester United soccer schools.
Yesterday 11 members of the gang were convicted of fraud and slavery charges after four trials.
Details of the shocking case have been made public after a ruling by a judge at Nottingham Crown Court.
The cases were brought by the National Crime Agency and Lincolnshire Police, which described the inquiry as its ‘largest and most complex’ ever investigation into modern slavery.
Some of the gang also targeted four elderly home-owners, getting them to sign over properties into their names. They then sold three on for profit, with one making them one £250,000.
One of the householders ended up dying without his family knowing.
It was only when contacted by police that they discovered they had missed his funeral.
Over the course of trials between November 2016 and August 2017, family members John, 31, Patrick, 31, Bridget, 55, Martin Snr, 57, Martin, 23, John, 53, Gerald, 46, and Lawrence Rooney, 47, were all convicted of conspiring to require a person to perform forced or compulsory labour. Peter Doran, 36, was convicted of the same charge.
Another gang member Martin Rooney, 35, was also found guilty of conspiracy to defraud and converting criminal property, with Patrick Rooney, 54, convicted of converting criminal property.
They will be sentenced next month and face lengthy prison terms.
Chief Superintendent Nikki Mayo, of Lincolnshire Police, said: ‘This exploitation was illegally funding a lavish lifestyle for the defendants.
‘While their “labourers” were suffering, this family were taking luxurious holidays to Barbados, Australia, Egypt and Mexico, the purchase of high performance BMW’s, spa days and even cosmetic surgery.
‘We knew these men were being kept in very poor conditions and made to work for little money.
‘The extent of these conditions soon became apparent – the victims were “accommodated” in caravans without running water or access to toilet facilities, and in some cases the electricity to them was dangerously obtained from a nearby pylon.’
Mrs Mayo described the homeless victims as ‘incredibly vulner- able’, adding: ‘Some had learning disabilities or mental health issues while others were completely dependent on alcohol or drugs.’ The Rooneys picked up the men from towns and cities across the country. They were then transported to camp sites at Drinsey Nook and Washingborough, in Lincolnshire, and forced to live in terrible conditions. The impact on the victims was severe, with many suffering mental and physical torment during their ‘gruelling and emotional’ ordeal. The men were regularly ‘subjected to threats of violence and intimidation by the defendants and some were assaulted’.
Some victims tried to escape but were hunted down by the family and brought back. They were freed during police raids in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and London three years ago.
Mrs Mayo said the drive-laying ‘businesses’ operated using stolen materials and advertised without permission. When the victims were not working, they would be forced to collect scrap, sweep, tidy up or look after pets around the sites.
She said that the promise of food by the Rooneys would sometimes only amount to the family’s leftovers.
‘Often their only “payment” was a packet of tobacco and a limited amount of alcohol, which didn’t help those with addictions and was another way in which the defendants exerted control over them,’ she added.
Mrs Mayo said surviving victims are now able to live independently and many are now in work, although some have since died.
Janine Smith, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: ‘These members of the Rooney family lived lives of luxury at the expense of their victims, condemning them to live in fear, misery and squalor.
‘For them, exploitation, violence and extortion were a way of life.’