Mistreatment of restaurant staff denied

A RESTAURANT boss denied yesterday he had ever assaulted any members of his staff or used verbal abuse towards them.

Raza Khan told a jury at Leeds Crown Court: "I would not do that, it's not in me. It is not my style."

Khan, 33, his brother Shahnawaz, 30, and mother Parveen, 55, all of Green Lane, Harrogate, deny conspiracy to traffic persons into the UK for the purposes of exploitation in the restaurant trade.

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The prosecution claim over a four-year period up to November 2008 they recruited staff from India and Pakistan to work at the Rajput restaurant on Cheltenham Parade, Harrogate, with the promise of good wages and working conditions who were then mistreated including having to work long hours.

Raza Khan told the court on average the latest staff would be at the restaurant was 1am.

He said his working relationship with the staff was good and denied ever telling anyone that he was "above the law".

He said staff could eat at the restaurant and on Fridays he would regularly buy in chicken meals for them while Saturday night was pizza night to give them a change for "inspiration and motivation".

He told the jury staff worked six days a week and were free to do what they wanted and go where they wanted on their day off.

The trial continues.

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