A puppy farmer who admitted “appalling” human trafficking offences in his Perthshire kennels has been handed a risk order to stop him employing anyone for the next two years.
Daanyaal Chowdhury recruited three people with a view to exploiting them at South Cairnies Farm Cottage, Glenalmond, from September 20 to November 15 2020.
He advertised jobs on Gumtree working with dogs or cats, typically offering £1,000 a month with food and accommodation.
But his victims were never given employment contracts and were overworked, underpaid and forced to eat the same food the dogs did.
Chowdhury was given a five-year ban from keeping animals and 90 hours of unpaid work at Perth Sheriff Court in May last year for animal neglect at the rural Perthshire farmhouse between April and October 2020.
Around 60 cats and dogs – kept in appalling, squalid and dangerous conditions – were rescued from the site.
At the time, Chowdhury blamed his staff for the condition of the rural site and its animal inhabitants.
At Dunfermline Sheriff Court last week, Chowdhury, from Oldham, was back in the dock for sentencing after pleading guilty to three charges under section 1 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015.
Defence lawyer, Kyra Strachan, said her client was living in the Manchester area after meeting with his victims and could not travel to Scotland due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The solicitor said Chowdhury claims two of his victims should have either “invoiced him” or “provided him with account details,” but Sheriff Krista Johnston suggested this was “victim blaming”.
Ms Strachan also pointed out Chowdhury, who is now unemployed and receiving benefits, is the “sole carer” for two young children and argued imprisoning him would cause them “significant disruption”.
Sheriff Johnston told Chowdhury: “You took advantage and treated these three complainers appallingly.
“You should be ashamed of yourself.
“There is no place in any of the facts of this case which I heard for victim blaming”.
The sheriff said she took into account the details of a social work report and his record, which is almost exclusively for road traffic matters, noting she is aware of the associated offending in respect of his work at the cottage.
Sheriff Johnston said she also took into account that he is a carer for two young children.
She said: “I am therefore persuaded an alternative to custody is available and in your circumstances, appropriate.”
The sheriff sentenced Chowdhury to an 18-month community payback order consisting of offender supervision and 180 hours of unpaid work.
In addition, Sheriff Johnston made a risk order in terms of section 26 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015.
She said: “It will prohibit you from directly or indirectly making arrangements to employ any person in the United Kingdom for a period of two years.
“Directly or indirectly, you can not involve yourself in the employment of anyone.”
Prosecutor Douglas Thomson told the court previously one of Chowdhury’s victims, a Greek national then living in the UK, saw a job advert on Gumtree to look after puppies.
It offered free accommodation, food and a monthly salary of £1,000, working 30 hours per week.
The woman was asked to start work immediately and was advised she and her partner would work there on agreed terms but no employment contract was ever produced.
When she arrived the next day, she noticed a bad smell and “flies everywhere” when entering the kitchen.
The fiscal said the woman was required to work 12-to-13 hours per day, due to the level of care required by the puppies and the cleaning work involved.
If she was unwell, Chowdhury would still phone and ask her to work, stating the dogs needed care.
During the course of the employment, she was given food but observed it was all out of date.
The fiscal said: “The accused would cook frozen chicken for everyone, being the same chicken that was also fed to the dogs”.
After about four weeks of working there and complaints not being resolved, she and her partner left.
It was estimated she worked over 200 hours in that period.
The fiscal said: “On the same (leaving) date, the accused paid £1,000 into her bank account, equating by her estimate to an hourly rate of £5, significantly below the national minimum wage”.
The court also heard about a second victim who started work at the farmhouse in early November 2020 after responding to a job advert on Gumtree.
The man worked there for two weeks building and fixing kennels and cleaning.
During the second week they discussed wages and Chowdhury told the man he would pay him £500 per month for 100 hours of work, which the man told him was unacceptable.
While negotiating, Chowdhury made a final offer of £9 per hour for 100 hours per month but required him to pay £5,000 over the next 12 months to cover his use of a motorbike Chowdhury had purchased for use at the site.
The man was unhappy about the terms and decided to leave the job.
A third victim worked at the site for one and a half days in mid-November after responding to a job advert on Gumtree for a “live-in dog and cat carer”.
She was instructed to clean a yard which she noted to be in a “very poor state,” with “bones and broken glass strewn everywhere”.
No animals were there at the time.
Out of concern about the poor conditions, the woman spoke to a friend who visited there the next day and obtained photographs to provide to the Scottish SPCA.
The woman then left without further contact with Chowdhury and did not receive any payment for the day worked.
Mr Thomson said police carried out a welfare check on November 17 after concerns were raised by third parties in relation to people within the premises.
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