Men were kept as slaves by Travellers, court hears

Men who said they were kept as slaves on a Travellers’ site escaped by jumping into a canal, hiding in a back garden, and confiding in a community service officer, a British jury has heard.

The victims were allegedly held in servitude at the Green Acres site at Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, and forced to carry out unpaid work for the Connors family’s block paving business.

There was a rumour that someone was buried in a field next to the site and workers had been warned “if you run away you’ll end up like the person in the field back there”, Luton crown court was told.