Rajput in danger as pair jailed for people trafficking

Brothers Raja, 33, and Shahnawaz Khan, 30, were each found guilty by a jury in March of conspiracy to traffic foreign workers to their family-owned Rajput restaurant in Cheltenham Parade, Harrogate, in one of the first cases of its kind.

Their mother Parveen Khan, 55, was also convicted but is to be

sentenced for health reasons at a later date.

Leeds Crown Court heard nine men, mainly chefs, were recruited from India, Pakistan and the Middle East with promises of good wages and conditions but once in Yorkshire they had their passports and other documents seized and were forced to work long hours often seven days a week.

Barristers representing the brothers, of Green Lane, Harrogate, told Judge Geoffrey Marson QC if they were jailed the business which employs 10 other people would have to close.

The judge said he accepted the restaurant and the family were highly regarded with many people willing to speak on their behalf but they had been convicted on overwhelming evidence of trafficking persons for the purposes of labour exploitation.

"You and others must understand that the courts cannot regard treatment such as this to fellow human beings as being anything other than wholly unacceptable."

He said over a four year period from December 2004 to November 2008 they had recruited and brought to the UK the nine men who were no doubt keen to achieve a good standard of living for their families.

"You exploited their ambition by luring them to this country with the promise of wages well in excess of what they were earning and promises of good working conditions.

"The majority of these men spoke little or no English, when they arrived in this country their passport and other documentation were taken from them. They were not prisoners in the sense they were kept locked away, and it is clear that some of them had a modest amount of free movement in Harrogate, but in taking the passports and other documentation they were effectively trapped and controlled, being unable to work elsewhere in this country and unable to leave and return home."

He said to a greater or lesser extent the men were subjected to verbal abuse, long working hours, insufficient payments, they were discouraged from speaking to customers "and their lives were effectively controlled by you". Some described their treatment as mental torture.

"Your motive was greed and commercial gain at the expense of others, you put your business above the health and welfare of these men," he said.

Christopher Tehrani prosecuting told the court three men ran away together in August 2008 and turned up at Huddersfield Police Station.

Nicholas Lumley representing head chef, Shahnawaz Khan, who was once dubbed the "Indian Jamie Oliver" said the charges usually covered those who trafficked people illegally into the country for prostitution who were clearly more culpable than the Khans.

He suggested they had never been allowed to grow up and pursue an independent life, the apron strings of a normal mother and sons had become chains in their case.

They had to step into the business after 2002 to help out because of financial problems which they discovered when they broke into their father's study and found unpaid bills and pressing creditors.

Counsel for his brother urged the judge not to jail them, instead allowing them to continue working and pay compensation.