Travellers convicted of slavery after keeping captives for years

MEMBERS of a traveller family have been convicted of running a modern slavery ring which kept one of its captives in “truly shocking” conditions for decades.

Vulnerable people were forced to work for the Rooney clan for little or no wages, while their paymasters lived a life of lavish luxury.

The 11 gang members, who were convicted of fraud and slavery charges, enjoyed holidays to Barbados and cosmetic surgery and even shelled out on a Manchester United soccer school, earned off the backs of their workers. They will be sentenced in September.

Operating from sites in Lincolnshire, they targeted victims who were homeless, had learning disabilities or complex drug and alcohol issues.

The men, aged 18 to 63, were freed after raids by Lincolnshire Police and the National Crime Agency, carried out in 2014.

One of the victims was found to have been working for the family for 26 years.

Some of the gang also targeted four elderly homeowners, getting them to sign over properties into their names and selling three on for profit – one for £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.

After four trials resulting in convictions, the full scale of the offending can now finally be revealed after a ruling at Nottingham Crown Court yesterday.

Judge Timothy Spencer QC said: “After careful consideration, I’m quite satisfied the public interest lies in these matters being reported.”

Members of the family would go looking for victims on the streets or at hostels and shelters, offering work for food and accommodation.

But at sites in Drinsey Nook and Washingborough, the offers of fair work for fair pay were exposed as lies. Family members used false promises, drugs, alcohol and violence to make sure they kept their victims “financially trapped” and under total control.

Labourers were forced to live in shabby run-down caravans, or in stables next to kennels, with little or no access to basic facilities such as heating, water and toilets.

In all, 18 men were forced to work at the sites or for the Rooneys’ businesses, carrying out tasks such as repairing properties and resurfacing driveways.

The police said victims were also “poorly fed” and often went hungry – or were given the “family’s leftovers”, even though they were worked for hours on hard, manual tasks.

If victims complained, the gang would say they still owed money and would claim more labour to pay off the bogus debts.

The heartless gang provided alcohol and drugs as part of what prosecutors had described as a “grooming” process.

But as their hold on the victims increased, that illicit supply gave the clan an ever-tighter hold over their victims, including their bank accounts.

Chief Superintendent Nikki Mayo, who led the investigation, described as the “suffering” inflicted on the men that they employed.

She said: “The tragedy in this case is that the victims will never get those years of their lives back – we believe one man was held for 26 years.”

Yesterday The Yorkshire Post reported that the National Crime Agency said modern slavery and human trafficking in the UK were much more prevalent than previously thought, with cases affecting “every large town and city in the country”.

The tragedy is that the victims will never get those years back. Chief Superintendent Nikki Mayo.