- Family of five kept private army of labourers in cramped, squalid caravans
- The Connors paid the vulnerable drifters as little as £5 a day and beat them
- The victims were attacked with brooms and rakes to keep them obedient
- Slaves were made to strip and one had hosepipe forced down his throat
- Many were addicts who were supplied with cannabis to keep them docile
- William Connors, 51, lived a life of luxury while his workforce suffered
|
A traveller family kept a 'private army of slaves' who were starved and beaten into submission - and used them to fund a millionaires' lifestyle.
The victims - many of them homeless and addicted to drugs and alcohol - were kept in squalor, supplied with cannabis to keep them submissive and paid as little as £5 a day.
While the family, headed by William Connor, lived in luxury, the men were used as labourers for their patio business and kept in line with punishments including flogging with broom handles and rakes.
William, 52, wife Mary, 48, their sons John, 29, and James, 20, and son-in-law Miles Connors, 24, were today convicted in one of the first cases of its kind.
Prosecutor Christopher Quinlan QC told Bristol Crown Court that the family built up 'a private workforce at their beck and call' who 'were forced to work and exploited for financial gain'.
Scroll down for video
Cruelty: Wealthy traveller William Connors, 51, berates one of his labourers at a caravan park
Terrified: The labourers faced the constant threat of being attacked by their 'employers', sometimes with implements including rakes and broom handles
Sick: Connors is caught on CCTV apparently assaulting one of the slaves he was said to pay less than £5 a day
Savage: The work was monotonous, arduous and often humiliating, and they were controlled by discipline and violence
The family of five were found guilty today of conspiracy to require men to carry out forced or compulsory labour under Section 71 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.
They recruited 37 vulnerable adults at YMCA shelters, rail stations, airports and the streets and forced them into hard labour, making them complete humiliating tasks, including cleaning their toilets.
Experienced detectives said they had never seen human beings treat others so badly for financial gain, but despite the jury finding all three guilty of forcing others into slavery between April 2010 and March 2011, their sentences will be a maximum of 14 years.
Luxury lifestyle: William and Mary (or Breda) Connors, pictured in Dubai, lived the high life while forcing vulnerable people to obey their every command
The family had also faced a second charge of conspiracy to hold another person in servitude but the trial judge ordered the jury to find the defendants not guilty of that offence.
During the trial, the court heard that the Connors would pick up the men - often homeless drifters or addicts - to work for them as labourers.
The victims lived in squalid caravans on traveller sites as they moved around the country working on the Connors' paving and patio businesses.
Some were ordered to perform humiliating tasks, including emptying buckets used as toilets by their bosses.
The work was monotonous, arduous and unrelenting, and they were controlled by discipline and violence.
Some of the men - called 'dossers' by the Connors - worked for the family for nearly two decades.
Many were beaten, hit with broom handles, belts, a rake and shovel, and punched and kicked by the Connors.
On another occasion, a worker had a hosepipe shoved down his throat, and the men were often made to strip for a 'hosing down session' with freezing water.
'It caused fear in the men,' said prosecutor Christopher Quinlan QC. 'Not just themselves being assaulted, but to see the others - if you see one of your colleagues being beaten, you knew what to expect.
'It was a clear and unequivocal demonstration of control and dominance, of one set, the family, over another.
'If you compare and contrast the lifestyles of the workers and bosses it is like comparing a Maserati versus a clapped-out Zephyr.'
The court heard the men were paid as little as £5 for a day's hard labour on jobs that would earn the family several thousands pounds.
They were given so little food they resorted to scavenging from dustbins at supermarkets for something to eat.
Cruel: Son-in-law Miles Connors, left, and William and Mary's sons John and James were all involved in the family racket
William and Mary Connors picked up the drifters and forced them into hard labour for the benefit of the family
Police raid: Bizarrely, the Connors kept money in a toilet at one of their caravans
VIDEO: CCTV footage of traveller William Connors assaulting a worker
The men also salvaged clothing from bins and used a bucket or woodland as a toilet.
In contrast, the Connors grew fat on the spoils of their workers' hard labour and lived in large and well-appointed caravans fitted with top of the range kitchens and flat screen televisions.
William and Mary, known as Billy and Breda, enjoyed luxurious holidays, including Dubai and a 10-day cruise around the Caribbean on the Cunard flagship liner Queen Mary 2.
The family also spent the spoils of their enterprise on breaks to Tenerife and Cancun in Mexico.
As well as holidays, they drove around in top of the range cars, including a silver A-Class Mercedes saloon, a Rolls Royce, a red Mini convertible, a Toyota Hilux pick up, a Ford Ranger and a Mercedes van, and had built up a mounting property portfolio potentially now worth millions of pounds.
Cramped: Workers were made to live in caravans owned the Connors family, who had purchased several sites
Shocking: The Connors reportedly supplied workers, pictured, with cannabis while depriving them of enough food to keep them subservient
Callous: The slaves travelled around the country working for the Connors family business and living in a corner of one of the family's caravan parks
The family bought two caravan parks in Gloucestershire for £545,000 more than a decade ago and had more than £500,000 in bank accounts.
Several houses - including one with a hot tub and flat-screen television - were registered in the names of other relatives.
Mr Quinlan told the jury during the trial: 'The defendants benefited financially and we say handsomely in their legal exploits and enterprise.
'The men were forced to work and exploited for financial gain and the defendants had a very cheap labour workforce for their businesses.'
He added: 'They were a private workforce at the beck and call of the defendants.'
William Connors, who used a string of aliases, married Mary more than 30 years ago and they have had six children together - four daughters and two boys.
Keeping up appearances: John Connors with the family's patio company workers at a construction site - but many were being forced into slave labour
Exploitation: William Connors with his labourers at a construction site. One told reporters he felt unable to leave because he had no money and was an alcoholic
Marketing: A flyer advertising the Connors family drive and patio service features a landline telephone number in order to look more professional
'I'VE NEVER SEEN HUMAN BEINGS ACT LIKE THIS', SAYS DETECTIVE
William and Mary Connors (pictured above on a cruise) lived the high life while their workers were treated appallingly, said the detective who led the investigation into the family.
Detective Chief Inspector Dave Sellwood, of Gloucestershire Police, said: 'The Connors caravans were beautiful, they were absolutely pristine, they were new, without exception, and in absolutely immaculate condition.
'In most cases the cookers had never been used, the toilets had never been used. They lived a very good life.'
Police plan to launch an investigation into the Connors' wealth and to use Proceeds of Crime Act legislation to seize their assets.
'They are very wealthy,' said Mr Sellwood. '[Billy] has been to Dubai, Cancun and to the USA. This criminal operation is not about getting by and scraping a living.
'I have never seen one group of human beings treat another group so badly for so long just for their financial benefit.'
Mr Sellwood said even hardened detectives were shocked by the raids in March last year.
'Having observed accounts from people that got away from them, we understood that they would be living in poor conditions.
'But actually some of the conditions were far worse. I brought some of my officers along to see first-hand the conditions that these workers were living in because I knew I was going to find it was impossible to describe.
'This was a group of very experienced senior detectives and none of them were prepared to set foot inside either of the two caravans and certainly when I did set foot in them I wasn't prepared to touch any of the surfaces.'
Mr Sellwood added: 'The evidence that we have heard in court is just a proportion of the information that is available to the police in terms of the treatment that the Connors handed out.
'The two assaults that we did catch on video, one was on a 17-year-old man with learning difficulties, the other an older gentleman that had been with them for about 11 years.
'He is currently incapable of living alone and is in supported accommodation and will be for the rest of his life. I think that is an example of the Connors' treatment of very vulnerable men.'
He was described by some of the workers as the 'drill sergeant, big boss or the daddy'.
Mary was the 'banker', collecting the money from the workers' state benefits.
As people were called back into court, there was wailing from Mary, who repeatedly said: 'Oh God', 'Oh Jesus' and 'Oh Lord, please God, don't do this'.
William was the only family member not in tears as the defendants took their places in the dock.
There were loud and violent outbursts from members of the Connors family in the public gallery.
Six security guards stood around the five defendants as the foreman of the jury returned the guilty verdicts one by one.
Family members jumped to their feet and extra security guards came into court to physically remove relatives.
John Connors' wife was carried from the court after trying to climb out of the public gallery into the dock.
As she left, she wailed: 'Please, please, I'm asking you no. Don't do this.'
Mary Connors screamed uncontrollably as the first verdict - on her husband - was returned by the foreman.
The foreman continued to return unanimous verdicts on James, Johnand Miles and, following wild outbursts, Judge Longman ordered the public gallery to be cleared.
Gloucestershire Police officers, who had been sitting in the front row of the public gallery, helped security staff clear the court.
As the jury foreman returned the verdict on Mary, she wept and shouted: 'Oh, daddy, daddy, why are you doing this to me? I've never done no wrong to anyone in my whole life.'
Noise could still be heard from outside the courtroom as the five defendants were led away to the cells.
The judge said he would hear mitigation this afternoon and would pass sentence on Monday afternoon.
They owned £375,000 caravan park The Willows in Staverton and nearby Willowdene caravan park, which they bought for £170,000.
In later years, the Connors bought plots of land adjacent to Willowdene for a total of £137,000.
The family also own a house called Hayden Laurels, bought in July 2007 for £390,000 and registered in the names of John Connors's wife Barbara and Alexander Gourlay.
Eldest son John, known as Johnny, was jointly registered with Esther Gammell as owner of a house in Uckington, near Cheltenham. 'Ikiru' was bought in March 2004 for £208,000 and fitted out with a hot tub.
The Connors also own plots of land at a travellers' site at Kirk Lane in Enderby, Leicestershire, while William Connors is the registered owner of a house called Twelve Oaks and relative Esther Connors was the registered owner of a bungalow with double garage in Staines, Middlesex, which was bought by William Connors in 2005 for £130,000.
The Connors made their money by travelling across the country offering block paving and tarmacing services.
They used a string of company names, including Pro Groundworks Drives & Patios, Designer Drives & Patios, JF Kennedy, Oxfordshire Drives & Patios, Sofisicated Drives (sic) and Quality Driveways.
To create the impression of a professional outfit, the Connors had glossy leaflets printed, which always had a landline phone number.
Different world: The Connors owned £170,000 caravan park Willowdene, pictured, and Hayden Laurels, which was bought in July 2007 for £390,000
Luxury cars: The family had a silver A-Class Mercedes saloon, a Rolls Royce, a red Mini convertible, a Toyota Hilux pick up, a Ford Ranger and a Mercedes van
LIFE IN THE CONNORS' CLUTCHES
The vulnerable men working for the Connors family were forced to live in squalor, carry out menial tasks and work in hard and often freezing conditions.
They were usually homeless, alcoholics or drug addicts and they were used as cheap labour for the Connors' paving and patio businesses.
Oliver was picked up by Miles Connors, William and Mary Connors son-in-law, in March 2010 and lived on traveller sites in the Midlands and in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
A recovering alcoholic, he did not want to reveal his full identity, but told ITV West: 'They were keeping us rock bottom and giving us just enough to survive on, supplying us with alcohol, supplying us with cannabis.
'Not eating enough, the coldness, the emptying of the slop buckets for them... they never did anything for themselves - it was horrible.
'It was a low point for me, but when I first met the man he promised me that he could help.'
Oliver's work was monotonous and unrelenting and he was often controlled by violence.
'I did actually witness one of them hitting somebody with a shovel,' he said. 'Maybe he said something wrong to him, maybe he was complaining - that was the treatment you got if you complained.'
When asked why he and the other workers did not leave, he maintained 'it was a lot harder to do than that'. Some men who left were rounded up and brought back.
'I did actually escape myself once, but it is hard to do,' said Oliver, who is in his 40s. 'You don't have any money, you can't go to the train station and get a train ticket - you have no money to do anything like that - so the only thing you know is best go back.'
Oliver was rescued with four other workers when police raided a traveller site at Kirk Lane, Enderby, Leicestershire, on March 22 last year and arrested Miles Connors.
'Slowly but surely it is leaving my head, it is always going to be there, but I'm starting to live back in a normal life again,' he said.
Also working on the family business was son-in-law Miles Connors, known as Miley, who is married to William and Mary's daughter Bridget.
Police began investigating the Connors following the discovery of the body of worker Christopher Nicholls, 40.
Mr Nicholls had been involved in a serious road accident in October 2004 outside Willowdene and his decomposed body was discovered in a garden shed near the caravan site in May 2008.
In 2009, one unnamed worker contacted Gloucestershire Police to say William and Mary Connors had recruited him from the streets of Cheltenham.
He told detectives he had his identity documents taken from him and he was rarely paid and received little food and lived with other workers in the same situation.
Some of the workers did leave the Connors but were often rounded up and brought back.
The Connors maintained the men were 'free agents' able to come and go as they please and William and Mary suggested they acted as 'good Samaritans' providing them with food, work and accommodation.
The introduction of the Coroners and Justice Act in April 2010 created offences of conspiracy to hold another person in servitude and conspiracy to require a person to carry out forced or compulsory labour.
The Connors were placed under covert surveillance in August 2010 and police recorded evidence of the men being assaulted.
The enterprise came to an end when police raided sites in Staverton, Enderby and Mansfield in Nottinghamshire on March 22, 2011.
Police rescued 19 men from the Connors' clutches, including Alexander Gourlay, 55, David Kettle, 57, James Martin, 43, Nigel Houghton, 52, Craig Sivier, 41, Daniel Pedge, 36, Andrew Thomas, 28 and David Gibbons, 47.
Other men included Martin 'Tim' Howley, Michael Burke, who lived with the defendants for so long that he changed his surname to Connors, Michael Phee, Lezszak Otto, Martin Cox and Ryan Lowrie
Mr Gourlay told jurors how he watched William Connors hit Mr Howley for taking food from dustbins.
'Billy would always use the handle of a broom, or something he picked up, and started whacking him with it,' he said.
'Every time he did something wrong, or had been shouted at, Billy beat him with a broom, his fists or hands or something he would pick up.'
Selfish: The family spent their cash on luxury holidays, caravan parks and hot tubs while treating their workers like dogs
No comments:
Post a Comment