Stoke-on-Trent man jailed for role in "biggest ever" slavery gang
The corrupt recruitment boss supplied slave labour to a parcels firm
A man from Stoke-on-Trent, who helped supply slave labour to a parcels firm, has been jailed for seven years.
David Handy, of Oxford Street, Stoke-on-Trent, made a small fortune while the workers he provided sometimes ended up with just £20 a week, living in squalor.
They were sent to him by Polish gang masters, trafficked to the UK with false promises of wealth and a good lifestyle.
The 54-year-old was able to maximise profits by skimming off some of his victims’ earnings before paying wages directly into their exploiters’ bank accounts.
He also received back-handers from the trafficking gang for agreeing to find work placements for victims who were under their control.
It’s believed Handy made over £500,000 which he used to pay off his mortgage and other debts, and was able to amass savings of around £400,000.
He denied involvement but in June a jury found him guilty of conspiracy to force people into forced labour, conspiracy to traffic people for the purpose of exploitation and money laundering.
Handy made so much money from the exploitation of workers that he brought in an accomplice, Shane Lloyd, to try and prevent his illicit gains from being discovered.
Nearly £140,000 was paid into Lloyd’s bank account, which he then cashed and passed back to Handy.
Lloyd, 47, of West Brampton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing of two counts of money laundering and was given a 20 month jail sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work.