Accused ‘forced men to live in squalor & fear’
Piggery pair appear on slavery charges
TWO-YEAR-OLD Princess Charlotte steps out for her first day at nursery school – in pictures captured by her proud mum Kate,
The two-year-old, who is fourth in line to the throne, was photographed at Kensington Palace before travelling to nearby Willcocks Nursery School.
She is pictured sitting down on some outside steps in the grounds of the famous palace and standing as she holds on to a rail.
The smiling princess is wearing a bright red coat and shoes and a pink scarf and is carrying a colourful printed rucksack on her back.
Charlotte will be a fulltime pupil at the nursery, who charge fees of just over £3000 a term for pupils attending Monday to Friday mornings. TWO men went on trial yesterday accused of slavery charges.
Robert McPhee, 65, and John Miller, 38, are charged with forcing a number of victims to live in “squalid conditions” and making them work for little or no money.
The allegations emerged as the pair – along with James McPhee, 45, and Steven McPhee, 37 – appeared at the High Court in Glasgow.
The indictment features 30 charges spanning between 1993 and 2016.
All four men deny all the charges against them, which also include allegations of torture and humiliation.
Three men are said to have been held in “slavery and servitude” at a piggery in Shotts, Lanarkshire.
Robert McPhee alone is firstly alleged to have held one against his will on various occasions between 2011 and 2014.
The accusation includes claims the individual was made to stay in “squalid living conditions” and threatened with violence to force him to work.
Miller is alleged to have joined Robert McPhee in similar crimes against two other men.
One of the individuals is said to have been held between 2011 and 2012 while the latter was allegedly forced to work in late 2016. One of the charges is under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act.
Other allegations in the seven-page indictment include assault and abduction.
One charge claims Robert McPhee and James McPhee detained a man against his will and attacked him at a time between 1999 and 2006.
It includes accusations that the individual was left in a shed for three days and that an eight-year old boy was told to pour petrol over him.
A naked flame is then said to have been brandished at him.
Prosecutors also claim the man was fed dog food, made to beg for water and forced to kiss the feet of James McPhee.
The charge – said to be racially aggravated – is alleged to have occurred at a number of locations including Bathgate, West Lothian.
Steven McPhee faces a number of assault charges with one claiming he attacked a man with a brush, concrete slabs and a pickaxe handle.
No evidence was heard yesterday.
The trial, before Lady Stacey, continues.