FOUR MEN HAVE been charged with slavery offences after a raid on a traveller site at Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, England at the weekend.
Twenty-four British and Eastern European men were found living in filthy and cramped conditions at the site and five people were arrested, four men and one woman, by officers carrying out the raid.
According to Bedforshire on Sunday, the woman who was arrested was released on bail but will be questioned further following the birth of her child. She is understood to be very close to giving birth. The four men are all brothers and are due to appear in court tomorrow.
The BBC reports that of the 24 men thought to have been held at the camp against their will, nine are refusing to cooperate with police. One of the nine described the police investigation as “heavy-handed” to the Guardian and said “plenty of men” who were at the site were getting paid and wanted to be there.
Over a dozen men are still receiving hospital treatment for problems including malnutrition.
The police investigation continues and the Crown Prosecution Service said that further charges may follow. The charges currently being brought against the brothers relate to four alleged victims who claim they were being kept at the site against their will as slaves.
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