A father and son have been jailed for repeatedly assaulting and abusing a vulnerable homeless man who was held as a slave at their scrap metal yard in south Wales.
Anthony Baker, 49, and Harvey Baker, 19, ran the business near Swansea where the victim was forced to live in a squalid caravan and work without payment.
The 20-year-old victim, who had learning disabilities, was given only one meal a day – a tin of soup or baked beans or out-of-date leftovers from a bakery – but compelled to work for 16 hours a day.
Anthony Baker was jailed for 10 years and told he must serve at least two thirds before he could apply for parole. Harvey was sentenced to six years in a young offenders’ institution.
The judge, Paul Thomas QC, said it would have been appalling if the pair had treated their animals in the way they treated the victim and added he believed they enjoyed the power they had over him.
Police went to the yard in January after a tip-off and found the victim working. He had extensive bruising and could not speak clearly due to facial injuries including a broken jaw. He was wearing dirty and ill-fitting clothes. A nurse who examined him said he looked like a concentration camp victim.
At first he was so frightened he told police he had been in a fight but he later explained he would work all day and received no payment other than a tiny amount of food.
He said he would be beaten every day sometimes with a scaffolding bar or cut with a kitchen knife. He was also punched and bitten. It emerged that he had been homeless when the Bakers came upon him.
Swansea crown court was told he suffered flashbacks and is likely to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Speaking after the sentencing, Catrin Attwell of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Anthony and Harvey Baker exploited the victim’s vulnerability and routinely assaulted him over a significant period of time.
“The victim had his jaw fractured, nose bitten and was hit with weapons resulting in extensive injuries.
“When faced with the evidence, Anthony Baker accepted he had forced the man to work for him. It is difficult to imagine the pain the victim endured whilst living at the scrapyard.
“Modern slavery is a despicable crime. It is hard to believe slavery is happening in our communities but this case reminds us that it does.”
Anthony Baker pleaded guilty to requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour, inflicting grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and unlawful wounding.
Harvey Baker pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, unlawful wounding and inflicting grievous bodily harm. The offences took place between 24 October 2016 and 31 January 2019.