Disabled man forced to work as slave for 35 years… but still not a hate crime, says CPS
http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/disabled-man-forced-to-work-as-slave-for-35-years-but-still-not-a-hate-crime-says-cps/
Three people were convicted unanimously by a jury last week of requiring the 52-year-old man to perform forced or compulsory labour, after a four-week trial at Oxford Crown Court.
The man, who has learning difficulties, was forced to live in a brick shed that was described as unfit for human habitation, and to undertake heavy manual labour, working for more than 12 hours a day, for which he was paid just £5 a day....
The three defendants also applied for and collected his benefits worth £139,000 for 13 years and as a result were also convicted of conspiracy to defraud following a trial last November.
They will be sentenced next month for this charge, and the forced labour, but CPS has already confirmed to Disability News Service that the offences have not been treated as disability hate crime.