£1.4m legal aid for slave-ring family

A TRAVELLER family jailed for holding 18 men as slaves for 26 years were awarded more than £1.4million in legal aid.

The Rooney clan lived like ‘medieval royalty’, and built a £1.5million fortune by forcing their homeless victims to work 12-hour days paving driveways, keeping them in squalor in Drinsey Nook and Washingborough in Lincolnshire.

A Freedom of Information request found Martin Rooney, 57, was awarded £89,321.64 and his wife Bridget, 55, £174,545.71 to fund their court cases.

Their twins, Patrick and John, 31, were given £511,588.20 and £627,139.73.

Martin Rooney was jailed for ten years, his wife for seven years and the twins were each given more than 15 years.

Tory MP David Davies said: ‘These people made more than £1million by exploiting vulnerable individuals, yet had lawyers paid for by the taxpayer.’