A family of travellers who led a luxurious lifestyle at the expense of vulnerable men who they forced to work for a pittance are facing jail.
William Connors (52), his wife Mary (48), their sons John (29) and James (20) and 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. The work was monotonous and arduous, and they were controlled by discipline and violence.
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. In contrast, the Connors lived in large, well-appointed caravans fitted with smart kitchens and flat-screen televisions.
William and Mary, known as Billy and Brida, enjoyed holidays including a trip to Dubai and a 10-day cruise around the Caribbean. The family also spent the profits from their enterprise on breaks to Tenerife and Cancun in Mexico.
As well as holidays, they drove around in cars including a silver A-Class Mercedes saloon, a Rolls Royce, a red Mini convertible, a Toyota Hilux pick-up, a Ford Ranger and a Mercedes van. They had built up a mounting property portfolio potentially now worth millions of pounds.
The Connors made their money by travelling across the country offering block-paving and tarmacking services using a string of different company names.
After 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.
William Connors, Mary Connors, both of The Willows, John Connors and James Connors, both of Beggar’s Roost Caravan Park, all of Bamfurlong Lane, Staverton, Gloucestershire, and Miles Connors, of Mary Street, Bradford, West Yorkshire were remanded in custody until sentencing on Tuesday.