Two vulnerable men were made to do heavy labour from dawn until dusk for only £10 a day and were beaten if they refused to work, a jury has heard.
One of the men was so desperate to escape that he once leapt out of a moving car in a bid to get away and the second worked in “appalling conditions” for more than 20 years and was repeatedly hunted down and brought back when he tried to flee.
Patrick Joseph Connors, 59, Patrick Dean Connors, 39, William Connors, 36, and 34-year-old Lee Christopher Carbis deny requiring another person to perform forced or compulsory labour.
Prosecuting counsel John Hipkin told a jury at Cardiff crown court that the two alleged victims were treated like little more than objects. He said they were forced to sleep in cold sheds and on concrete floors – with one of them washing himself outside with a cold tap and bucket.
Hipkin said the younger of the men – who can only be referred to as Mr K for legal reasons – tried to escape four times, on one occasion leaping out of a car before running into the path of an oncoming bus.
The court heard that the other – 46-year-old Michael Hughes – was under the control of Connors Sr for more than two decades.
Hipkin said: “Michael Hughes and Mr K worked for Patrick Joseph Connors for long hours carrying out heavy manual labour … For many years they were paid either in alcohol, tobacco, relatively small sums of money – £10 a day.
“They would be kept in appalling living conditions: a shed, a garage, a tin hut – often with not even the basic functions to provide heat or water. If they became ill or injured they were forced to work.
“They were denied basic self-respect and called dossers and told if they were killed that they would not be missed. If they tried to escape they would be hunted down and brought back.”
The court heard that Hughes was originally from Aberdeen but had travelled to Cardiff at around the age of 18 and began living on a farm before being “passed on to” the Connors family.
Hipkin said: “Initially he was given a garden shed to live in and would wash with the outside cold tap and a bucket. He would go out to work on driveways and tarmacking [for Connors Sr].”
At one stage, Hughes was arrested for a driving offence and ended up being sent to prison in Scotland for some outstanding fines. The court heard that the complainant described jail as being better than life with Connors Sr.
However, the prosecutor said Hughes was lured back to south Wales with the promise of better conditions which “simply never materialised”.
The court heard he later ran away to Aberdeen only to turn up at the local dole office and see Patrick Joseph Connors and his eldest son there before being bundled “in the boot of their car” and sent back to Wales.
According to the crown, Hughes met the other victim, Mr K, while working for Connors Sr – whose building firm was described in court as mostly “illegal”.
Hipkin added: “The hours would often be from dawn until 11pm. The work would be heavy work – paving, tarmacking, slabbing. The prices would be inflated and depend on the vulnerability of the customer – a system known as ‘boosting’.”
The court heard that, when interviewed by police, Connors Sr denied any wrongdoing and insisted he had looked after the two men well and paid them properly.
All four defendants in the trial deny one count of requiring another person to perform forced or compulsory labour between 2010 and 2013. The three Connors are all from Rumney in Cardiff.
Connors Sr has also pleaded not guilty to eight counts of causing actual bodily harm, four of kidnap and one of conspiracy to kidnap. The dates for those alleged offences range between 1990 and 2012.
Elder son Patrick Dean Connors denies kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap. William Connors has pleaded not guilty to causing actual bodily harm on a man between 2009 and 2013.
Connors Sr’s son-in-law Carbis, of Trowbridge, Wiltshire, also denies one count of kidnap between 2001 and 2002.
The trial continues.
