A gangmaster has been prosecuted for modern slavery offences after bringing Eastern European workers to the UK and paying them less than £2 an hour.
The men were transported to work 12-hour shifts at a food processing factory in Staffordshire. Whilst the gangmaster received reasonable income for the men’s employment, he only paid the men £20 for a day’s work. The five victims were also kept in cramped conditions in a room in the man’s home in Birmingham.
The gangmaster initially entered a not guilty plea; however, he changed his plea during his trial at Birmingham Crown Court. He was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for human trafficking and fraud offences.
