A Romanian gangmaster who forced his countrymen to live in squalor and paid them just £30 per month has been found guilty of human trafficking.
Victims described how five of them were forced to share two mattresses and had to live on a diet of potatoes after being flown to Scotland for work.
A jury at Perth Sheriff Court found Remus Groza, 31, guilty of trafficking two men and exploiting them between July 17 and September 6 last year.
The pair came to Scotland after being promised they would be given jobs which would give them a better future.
They described how they realised they were being exploited when they were given squalid shared accommodation in Perth’s Rannoch Road.
Both men described how their wages were not immediately given to them and deductions were made for accommodation and transport.
They said they were left with the equivalent of around £1 per day for doing full-time agricultural work and could only afford to eat potatoes.
Groza was found guilty of transporting the men from Glasgow Airport and harbouring them in Perth before taking them local farms.
He was convicted of over-charging the duo for rent, utilities and transport under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act.
Groza, George Square, Coupar Angus, had sentence deferred until November and bail was continued.
