Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Nail bar slavery alert
Budget salons are fronts for organised crime, experts say
WOMEN visiting nail bars have been urged to look for signs that staff are slaves not employees.
With a surge in budget beauty salons opening in the UK, it is feared many are fronts for organised crime. Vietnamese people are the foreign nationals most likely to be exploited and experts say car washes, factories and the cleaning industry have also fuelled a rise in slave labour.
Hannah Young of trafficking charity Unseen said: “Do prices seem ‘too good to be true’? If you feel something isn’t right, report your suspicions.”
In January crown prosecutor Eran Cutliffe was responsible for the UK’S first modern slavery conviction involving children, as two people were jailed for taking teenage girls from Vietnam to work in the UK nail industry.
Eran hopes the result, and a BBC documentary The Prosecutors, now available on the iplayer, will raise awareness.
Report suspicions at modernslaveryhelpline.org/ report or call 08000 121 700. A CURIOUS puppy ends up in a tight spot while exploring her new home yesterday.
Holly, a 12-week-old boxer, was wedged in a space between a shed and the house.
Kent Fire and Rescue in Ashford used hydraulic equipment to widen the gap.
A spokeswoman said: “Afterwards she enjoyed a cuddle with the firefighters.”