FOUR IRISH Travellers were remanded in custody after appearing in court in Luton yesterday charged with enslaving four men found at the Travellers’ site in Bedfordshire that was raided by 200 armed police on Sunday.
The four, brothers Jimmy (23), Tommy (27) and Patrick Connors (19), and brother-in-law James (Big Jim) Connors (33), appeared at Luton Magistrates’ Court, charged under Section 71 of the Coroners and Justice Act, 2009, which came into force last year. They were charged with conspiracy to hold the four men – who had left the Greenacres site months before Sunday’s raid – in servitude, and requiring them to perform forced labour. Further charges are expected against the four accused and against others, the court was told.
District Justice Leigh Smith said he believed “a coherent case” existed against the four accused “even at this early stage”, and that “an atmosphere of violence” had existed at Greenacres “to maintain order” from either April 2010 to August of this year, or June of last year to April, depending on the time spent at Greenacres by the alleged victims.
Seeking anonymity for the four witnesses, prosecuting solicitor Ben Gumpert said such an order “would make them less fearful of interference” and encourage them to co-operate with the police investigation. The application was opposed by the three solicitors representing the four accused, who said they did not know where the witnesses were.
However, Mr Gumpert said one of those who had been taken away on Sunday for medical treatment had since received a telephone call from one of the Connors clan, but not one of the accused. This had caused considerable distress to that individual and to the others being cared for at an unnamed centre by British Red Cross volunteers.
Judge Smith said he had been persuaded by the prosecution’s argument that “the quality of their evidence would be decreased by the strains of their being identified”, and he ordered that nothing should be done by the press or others to name them, or to provide information that would allow others to identify them “during their lifetimes”.
The four-hour court session was attended by the wives of the accused. One of the wives is due to give birth later this month, while two others are bringing up babies and toddlers, though Mr Justice Smith did not accept an arguments from the defendants’ legal teams that the wives and children would be left penniless because the police had seized monies at the site when they raided it.
The women sobbed openly when their husbands were remanded in custody.