Man kept as slave for 26 years by millionaire traveller family wins record compensation - but other victims die before payout
6 August 2024, 18:46
A vulnerable man kept as a slave for almost 26 years by a millionaire traveller family has won a record payout after his family sued the government for denying him adequate compensation.
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The man - only known as Victim A - will receive £352,000 in taxpayers' money after waiting for legal action for so long that those who held him captive have since been released from prison.
Victim A, in his fifties, was beaten, and given scraps of leftover food as he was held captive in a filthy caravan on a travellers' site by the Rooney family in Lincolnshire.
The 11-member Rooney gang then forced him to lay driveways for little or no pay while they amassed a £4million fortune.
They also at one point made him dig his own grave.
The Rooneys were subsequently jailed in 2017 for exploiting several victims, many of whom were homeless or struggled with learning difficulties.
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The family were eventually ordered at a Proceeds of Crime hearing in 2019 to pay £1million of their fortune to their victims.
But Victim A, who was in his fifties, waited so long for compensation that his captors have since been released from prison.
He was initially offered £12,428 under the Proceeds of Crime Act, leading Victim A's family to appeal to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) and the Ministry of Justice to increase the compensation.
After being granted £352,000, his sister says the money will go towards funding the round-the-clock care for her brother after suffering injuries inflicted by his captors.
But fifteen other men who were held as slaves alongside Victim A died before they could claim the increased compensation - including one who died without his family's knowledge.
The slaves were freed by Lincolnshire Police and the National Crime Agency after a series of raids in 2014.
The court heard how the Rooney gang would pick up victims on the street and in hostels and shelters. They would offer food and shelter in return for work on their driveway business.
But their victims were forced to live in filthy caravans or in animal stables. They were given no access to water or toilets, the court heard, leaving them to defecate in nearby woods.
Nine members of a traveller family were eventually jailed in 2017 for modern-day slavery offences.
The head of the family, Martin Rooney Senior, was jailed for 10 years, and two of his sons were both jailed over 15 years.
Prosecutors described the family as "chilling in their mercilessness", following one of the largest investigations of its kind.
