Sign up for our Crime and Punishment Newsletter The inside stories on the latest court stories from Wales Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A business owner who used two vulnerable men like "slaves" has been jailed for 14 years.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Patrick Joseph Connors, 59, forced Scottish man Michael John Hughes to work for his family business for more than 20 years – paying him as little as £5 a day for back-breaking work.

Jurors were told Mr Hughes was beaten "all the time" if he did not do as he was told and was made to live in appalling conditions.

A second man, whose identity cannot be revealed for legal reasons, was kidnapped four times after his attempts to escape failed.

Read more: Man treated like a 'slave' after being forced to work for 26 years said family 'stole his life'

(Image: Wales News Service Ltd.)

The 41-year-old has been diagnosed with brittle bone disease osteoporosis after years of malnutrition.

Connors, of Rumney , Cardiff, was convicted with his son Patrick Dean Connors and nephew William Connors of requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour.

Patrick Dean Connors was handed a six and a half-year prison sentence, while William Connors was jailed for four years.

Patrick Joseph Connors' son-in-law Lee Christopher Carbis, 34, of Trowbridge, was cleared of the compulsory labour charge against Mr Hughes but found guilty of kidnapping Mr K.

He was jailed for two-and-a-half years.

(Image: Wales News Service Ltd.)

'They were completely controlled through intimidation, threats, and violence' An insight into the investigation that brought jail terms for family who forced men to work

Judge Neil Bidder QC said the trio, who operated a tarmacking business based at a farm in Rumney, treated their victims as little more than objects.

He said: "All the offences which you, Patrick Joseph Connors, have been convicted of are examples of conduct designed to keep two vulnerable men in what can only be described as modern-day slavery – in the case of Michael John Hughes, for 26 years.

"By the end of that time he had been completely conditioned to being used by you.

"Both he and the other victim were selected for their vulnerability. Both were required to do heavy manual labour for very long hours, seven days a week, for very low pay – well below the minimum wage."

Read more: Welsh anti-slavery chief says new victims will now emerge from the shadows after family were jailed

(Image: Wales News Service Ltd.)



Listen to the statements of the two men below