Inside squalid caravan where slave was held captive, beaten & forced to eat scraps for 26 years at travellers’ site
SHOCKING photos from the inside of a squalid caravan have revealed where a slave was held captive, beaten and forced to eat scraps for 26 years.
The man, known only as Victim A, who was in his fifties, was kept in squalor by the Rooney family on a travellers’ site in Lincolnshire, while they lived a life of luxury.
The family violently exploited their victims who were often homeless people or men with learning disabilities, a 2017 trial at Nottingham Crown Court heard.
When 11 members of the family were convicted it was the biggest modern slavery case in British legal history.
The Rooneys had amassed a £4m fortune from their driveway business, according to a Proceeds of Crime hearing in 2019 at which they were ordered to pay back £1m, most of it to their victims.
But Victim A has waited so long for compensation that his captors, who beat him, fed him on scraps and forced him to lay driveways for little or no pay, have been released from prison.
The court offered Victim A just £12,428 under the Proceeds of Crime Act, leading his family to sue the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), an agency of the Ministry of Justice.
Seven years on, the man has successfully received £352,000 in government compensation funded by the taxpayer, which his sister said will pay for his round-the-clock care.
Fifteen other men held as slaves alongside Victim A passed away before they could claim the same level of compensation. One of the labourers ended up dying without the knowledge of his family, who later discovered they missed his funeral.
Victim A’s sister said the lack of initial compensation meant her vulnerable brother could not pay for rehabilitation for injuries inflicted by his captors.
The 11 gang members, who were convicted of fraud and slavery charges, enjoyed holidays to Barbados, cosmetic surgery and even shelled out on a Manchester United soccer school – earned off the backs of their workers.
The slaves, aged 18 to 63, were freed after raids by Lincolnshire Police and the National Crime Agency were carried out in 2014.
Some gang members also targeted four elderly home-owners, getting them to sign over properties into their names and selling three on for profit – one for £250,000.
Members of the Rooney family would go looking for victims on the streets, hostels and shelters, offering work for food and accommodation.
Martin Rooney Senior and Bridget Rooney were described as the “patriarch and the matriarch” of the enterprise.
Labourers were forced to live in shabby run-down caravans, or in stables next to kennels, with little or no access to basics such as heating, water and toilets.
Some were forced to squat in woods behind their living areas, while electricity was “dangerously” tapped from a nearby pylon.
In all, 18 men were forced to work at the sites or for the Rooneys’ businesses, repairing properties and tarmacking drives.
The police said victims were also “poorly fed” and often went hungry – or were given the “family’s left-overs”, even though they were worked for hours on hard, manual tasks.
For the convicted gang-members, there were luxurious holidays to Australia, Egypt and Mexico, high-performance BMWs, spa days and cosmetic surgery.
Lawyers said the CICA was “not fit for purpose” after most of the men held captive died before they could claim adequate compensation.
Solicitor Jamila Duncan-Bosu, from the Anti-trafficking and Exploitation Unit charity, said: “CICA is not fit for purpose when it comes to victims of modern day slavery, despite it being incredibly common.
“Compensation is paramount for victims of trafficking, for rehabilitation and to help them rebuild their lives, to stop that cycle of exploitation.”
A Government spokesperson said: “This was an awful crime and our thoughts remain with the affected individual and his family.
“The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority provides compensation to people who were injured as a result of a violent crime and has paid out over £165million to victims in 2023/24.
“We recognise that payment can never fully compensate for the injuries suffered but it can often help brave survivors move on with their lives.”