Family who exploited ‘dossers’ for forced labour face prison

William Connors, 52, his wife Mary, 48, their sons John, 29, and James, 20, and their son-in-law Miles Connors, 24, enjoyed top-of-the-range cars and expensive holidays.

To help them sustain their lifestyle, the family picked up men – often homeless drifters or addicts – to work for them as labourers.

The victims lived in squalid caravans on traveller sites as they moved around the country working on the Connors’ paving and patio businesses. Some were also ordered to perform humiliating tasks, such as emptying buckets used as toilets by their bosses.

Some of the men, called “dossers” by the Connors, had worked for the family for nearly two decades. Many were beaten, hit with broom handles, belts, a rake and shovel, and punched and kicked by the Connors.

“It caused fear in the men,” said prosecutor Christopher Quinlan QC. “Not just themselves being assaulted, but to see the others – if you see one of your colleagues being beaten, you knew what to expect.

“If you compare and contrast the lifestyles of the workers and bosses it is like comparing a Maserati versus a clapped-out Zephyr.”

The men were paid as little as £5 for a day’s hard labour on jobs that would earn the family several thousands pounds.

They were given so little food they resorted to scavenging from dustbins at supermarkets for something to eat.

In contrast, the Connors lived in large, well-appointed caravans fitted with smart kitchens and flat-screen televisions and built up a extensive property portfolio potentially worth millions, and bank accounts containing more than £500,000

William and Mary, known as Billy and Brida, enjoyed holidays including a trip to Dubai and a 10-day cruise around the Caribbean on the Queen Mary 2, and drove around in luxury cars including an A-Class Mercedes saloon, a Rolls Royce, a Mini convertible and a Toyota Hilux pick-up.

Also working on the family business were sons John and James – known as Johnny and Jimmy – and Miles Connors, known as Miley, of Mary Street, Bradford, who is married to William and Mary’s daughter Bridget.

Police began investigating the Connors following the discovery of the body of worker Christopher Nicholls, 40, in 2008.

The enterprise came to an end when officers raided sites in Staverton, Enderby and Mansfield in Nottinghamshire in March 2011.

The Connors maintained the men were “free agents” able to come and go as they pleased, and William and Mary suggested they acted as “good Samaritans” providing them with food, work and accommodation.

But following a three-month trial at Bristol Crown Court, the Connors were all unanimously convicted of conspiracy to require a person to perform forced or compulsory labour between April 2010 and March 2011.

They had also faced a second charge of conspiracy to hold another person in servitude but the judge ordered the jury to find the defendants not guilty of that offence.

William Connors and Mary Connors, both of The Willows, John Connors and James Connors, both of Beggar’s Roost caravan park, all of Staverton, Gloucestershire; and Miles Connors were remanded in custody until sentencing on Tuesday.