Beaten and starved, 40-year-old man kept as a slave FINALLY sees his captors brought to justice

Held for years by cruel masters in conditions compared to 'a concentration camp', one victim worked gruelling 16-hour days in abject terror.

The man, now 40 years old, was lured to a campsite with the promise of food, lodging and £80 pay for every day's work.

But his would-be saviour, 54-year-old Tommy Connors, soon proved himself a brutish slave-driver, who refused to give him a fair wage for his forced labour.

He even went as far as threatening his captives with murder should his captives flee.

Though the victim cannot be named for legal reasons, his case is not unique - there are an estimated 6,000 other slaves held in the UK today in equally dire conditions.

The man, one of 24 victims held on a filthy campsite in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire - one for 15 years - had his head shaved, was crammed into a tiny caravan and forbidden from even using the toilet.

He and the others - including people with mental illnesses - had their possessions taken and were told 'your family is dead to you now'. Instead, they were made to call Connors and his wife 'Ma and Pa'.

In his desperation, the man defied his captors' threats and fled, and told police of his ordeal.

His account triggered dawn raids on the campsite, and criminal prosecutions that would see his captors jailed for years.

The family of travellers has now also been ordered to pay back more than £2million in money gained from their crimes - which allowed them to live the life of luxury while keeping their 'slaves' in abject poverty.

A judge at Bristol Crown Court handed the family members court orders demanding they pay back £2.25 million or face up to a further six years behind bars.

At the original trial at Luton Crown Court in 2012, jurors heard of the filth in which the men were kept.

They were told: 'Conditions were squalid and at times they were starving. [One slaver] said if he used the toilets in their caravan she would break his arms and legs.'

The 40-year-old said: 'I didn't like it, but they said I couldn't leave and said if I tried to leave... I would get murdered.'

Following the trial, Connors and his family were given prison terms totalling 30 years.

But while the Connors family languish behind bars, criminals like them continue to operate across the nation. Slavery can conjure images of shackles and chains - but it is more often threats, or the illusion of debt binding victims to their keepers.

Sex slavery is the most frequent fate for slaves, but domestic servitude, factory work, agriculture and manual labour are also common.

Victims found here come from many different countries, including Romania, Albania, Nigeria, Vietnam and the UK itself.

For men, forced labour is most common, while overwhelmingly women who are captured are exploited for sex.

More than ninety per cent of the 581 reported cases of adult trafficking for sexual purposes last year were women.

One victim, from Gambia, told how she was locked away in her room, with no natural light. 

Her only contact with the outside world was a succession of men whom she was drugged too heavily to resist.

A quarter of all slavery victims are children, many of whom are also preyed on sexually.

With reports of slavery on the increase (reported cases were up 47 per cent in 2013 from 2012), and convictions numbers still relatively low, the Government has proposed new laws to fight the problem.

The Modern Slavery Bill, which is moving through Parliament at the moment, will bring in life sentences for slavers.

It will also protect slaves from being charged with crimes their masters made them commit, and require public bodies to report suspected slavery to help secure more convictions.

Campaigners and charities have welcomed the proposals, which they say will help comfort victims as well as bringing more perpetrators to justice.

Anne Read, who works for the Salvation Army's anti-trafficking team, said: 'Throughout the three years The Salvation Army has been supporting adult victims of trafficking in England and Wales, the number of people referred to us has continued to rise significantly.

'With our partners we work with these vulnerable and often deeply traumatised people to start their long journey to recovery.'

'We all owe it to these victims to crack down on human trafficking.'

Culled