Court told that boss made worker walk mile barefoot
MODERN SLAVERY TRIAL TOLD OF MEN’S CONDITIONS
Court Reporter A TAKEAWAY boss accused of using vulnerable men as “slaves” allegedly made one of them walk barefoot for a mile after taking his shoes and gave him a £3 bottle of cider and fish and chips for working up to 11 hours a day, a court heard.
Hargit Bariana is accused of exploiting vulnerable men by “bullying, coercing and forcing” them to work for no money.
He denies eight modern slavery offences against six men as well as a charge of robbery and being concerned in the supply of diazepam.
On the second day of his trial at Newcastle Crown Court, jurors heard from two alleged victims of Bariana, a takeaway boss and landlord from Blyth, Northumberland.
The first told how he had just come out of prison and was homeless when someone introduced him to a man he knew as “Barry”, who gave him a room in a multi-occupancy house in Blyth.
He said soon after moving in, he got him to clean floor tiles grout at Antonio’s takeaway, on Plessey Road, Blyth – owned by Bariana – and he “worked all the way through the night”. The man also said he was taken to Barry’s shop in Sunderland and told to strip it out, including removing steel fryers and large commercial fridges.
Prosecutor Christopher Knox asked: “Did you get paid for doing these things?” He replied: “No.”
Mr Knox: “Did you expect to get paid?” He replied: “Well I expected something.”
The man, who is in his 40s, said he also worked at Antonio’s, including opening up, sometimes locking up, serving chips and making pizzas.
He said he would be picked up by Barry at 9.30am and stay at the takeaway until it closed. Asked if he ever asked to be paid, the man replied: “Not really. He bought a bottle of alcohol every night.”
Asked if he had seen “anything done” to the others, he said: “(One man) got hoyed in the bath. His shoes got taken off him. He was made to walk a mile to Antonio’s to get his shoes, in bare feet.”
The witness was asked about an occasion when he sustained a broken jaw but would not tell the court what happened. He had to have a steel plate put in his jaw.
The man said someone else was injured on another occasion and that “it was about tablets”.
Under cross-examination by Bariana’s barrister, Tom Finch, it was put to the witness he had never once complained about the work.
He replied: “Working 24 hours a day, I think it’s basically bad, working all day and all night.”
Mr Finch suggested he willingly did odd jobs round the shop.
He replied: “Refitting the shop and serving, opening up and locking up, working every day, is not an odd job.”
Mr Finch alleged the man was “happy to work because it distracted you from the booze” and that he was content to work to stop him drinking during the day.
The man said: “How is that what he was saying when he was buying a bottle a night.”
A second complainant said he was homeless when someone put him in touch with “Barry” and he moved into the house.
He said Barry asked him to work at his fish shop on Plessey Road, where he did dishes, tidying and cleaning. He said he worked there for a few weeks, five days a week, from around 11am or 11.30am to 10pm. He said he didn’t get paid and asked if he raised it with Barry, he replied: “Yeah. He gave us fish and chips. He said he would sort us out a drink. I would rather have had the money. He said he would rather buy us drink. Mr Knox said: “How much drink for a 40 to 50-hour week?” He replied: “Two to three litres of cider a day. About £3. Bariana, 46, of North Farm Cottages, Bebside, Blyth, denies eight modern slavery offences of requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour, robbery from one of the alleged victims and being concerned in the supply of diazepam.
Denise Lillico, 51, of Byker, Newcastle, is accused with Bariana of supplying diazepam. She denies the charge.
The trial continues.