Eleven members of the same extended family have been convicted of running a modern-day slavery ring, which police described as the “largest and most complex investigation” of slavery offenses the department has ever seen.
The Rooney clan included 10 men and one 1 woman, who operated a driveway resurfacing company that employed workers to live in caravans without water or toilet facilities, BBC reported.
The workers were forced to work long hours to support the “lavish lifestyle” of the family, according to police. One had even worked for the family for 26 years.
According to the Independent, the 11 people were all gang-members and enjoyed holidays to Barbados, had cosmetic surgery, and even bought a Manchester United soccer school—all using the money earned by their slaves.
The family members were convicted of fraud and slavery charges and will be sentenced in September.
Police first began the investigation against the members of the Rooney clan back in September 2014 where they issued seven warrants in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, and London, BBC reported.
Multiple victims were found through police raids, others were later traced. The UK Human Trafficking center said that 18 men had been illegally sent to the sites.
Chief Superintendent Nikki Mayo said Lincolnshire Police knew that workers at the two sites were being held in poor conditions and worked for very little money “through intelligence” gathered.
“The extent of these conditions soon became apparent—the victims were accommodated in caravans without running water or access to toilet facilities,” Mayo said.
All the victims were vulnerable adults aged between 18 and 63, many of whom were homeless and had been picked up by the family from various parts of the UK.
“They were not given training for the manual labour and although not physically trapped, they were financially, emotionally and physically abused making any escape seem impossible,” Mayo continued.
“This exploitation was illegally funding a lavish lifestyle for the defendants.
“While their ‘labourers’ were suffering, company profits helped to fund luxurious holidays to Barbados, Australia, Egypt and Mexico, the purchase of high performance BMWs, spa days and even cosmetic surgery,” Mayo said.
The superintended described how the victims were completely institutionalized and only fed when they worked and sometimes only ate the family’s leftovers.
Police investigations found around £100,000 worth of stolen goods and that the clan even targeted elderly homeowners, forcing them to sign over their properties.
Four trials over the 11 defendants occurred between November 2016 and August 2017. Ten of the 11 defendants were released on bail ahead of the sentencing.
From NTD.tv
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