A nursing couple who run a recruitment agency supplying care homes have been arrested on suspicion of modern slavery offences – after claims their workers were so hungry they ate residents’ leftovers.
In what investigators said was a sign that ‘unscrupulous’ opportunists were exploiting the care worker shortage, the pair allegedly took advantage of nine Indians living in Britain on student visas.
Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, (GLAA), were tipped off to the fact that these men showed up tired and unwashed at work.
Officers arrested the couple – a 31-year-old British-Indian man and a 29-year-old Indian woman – at their plush detached house in Abergele, North Wales.
The workers were also found sleeping on the floors in cold, unsanitary conditions.
Officers arrested a couple – a 31-year-old British-Indian man and a 29-year-old Indian woman – at their plush detached house in Abergele, North Wales, and searched two properties in nearby Colwyn Bay where officers found workers sleeping on mattresses on the floor in cramped, cold and unsanitary conditions
Workers were reported to always be hungry, and even to be seen eating leftovers from six residents’ meals.
Call to Modern Slavery Helpline for the tip.
According to the GLAA, they are believed to have been ‘recruited’ from areas of India to which the suspects had close links.
Although it’s not clear if they had been studying legally in the UK at the time, their wage was said to have been controlled and managed by their supposed exploiters.
Investigators suspect that the workers were driven to work daily, and the suspects would drop them off near the care homes to pick them up.
Senior investigating officer Martin Plimmer said: ‘There is a well-publicised shortage of workers within the care industry which has been amplified by the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘This presents real risks as opportunists and unscrupulous employers may look to fill this void by exploiting vulnerable workers.’
Following last Thursday’s raid, the suspects – both registered nurses who run a recruitment agency – were interviewed on suspicion of offences under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 before being released under investigation.
Over 100,000 UK jobs are available, and care bosses warned that there is a crisis in staffing.