Tuesday 7 May 2013

Connors family servitude retrial: Jury discharged - Bedfordshire

From the BBC

The case against four members of a Bedfordshire Traveller family accused of keeping vulnerable men captive to work unpaid has collapsed.


Tommy Connors Sr, 53, and his sons Tommy Jr, 27, James, 25 and Patrick, 21, had denied keeping the men in servitude.

A jury at Luton Crown Court failed to reach a verdict on any of the charges against them.

The Crown Prosecution Service is considering if there will be a retrial.

The jury in the case had been deliberating for more than two days.

Judge Michael Kay told them: "The time has now come that I must discharge you on the basis that you have been trying for almost three days. Thank you for your efforts."

The court had heard homeless men were given accommodation at the Green Acres site at Little Billington, near Leighton Buzzard.

The jury heard they worked laying block paving but were threatened with violence if they asked for wages.

The family said the men were free to come and go at any time.

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