‘Ruthless trafficker forced victims to live like rats’

A Romanian delivery driver who pocketed his trafficking victims’ wages and kept them in conditions suitable for rats has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison.

Ioan Lacatus, aged 33, from Hanover St, Portadown, Co Armagh, called himself the minister and used his considerable bulk to intimidate the vulnerable.

He pleaded guilty to five counts of trafficking people into the UK for exploitation and similar offences.