Your article “The cannabis plants were more valuable than my life” (Journal, 26 July) was a welcome addition to the literature on modern slavery. Two points in it need addressing, however. The article commented that official estimates of the numbers of those in slavery in the UK are around 13,000. This estimate is an old one, long overtaken by more recent data and it would be good to move on to more contemporary statistics. The National Crime Agency suggests a number of “tens of thousands”, and one NGO suggests that a precise figure would be 136,000, ie, 10 times as many.
The other point is that as recent research has demonstrated, despite the Modern Slavery Act having a clause (42) which demands the non-criminalisation of victims of trafficking such as the young man described in the article, there are many victims brought before the courts who, despite the judge, magistrate, CPS, police and prosecuting and defending lawyers knowing that the defendant has been trafficked, are still sending them to prison.
When they are finally released, as the article notes, it takes much time and energy to get their rights upheld and their convictions quashed, often against the opposition of the government. The level of training for the judiciary is clearly still quite inadequate; but the government still confuses many people by linking modern slavery to immigration issues.
Prof Gary Craig
York
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