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| Connors family members jailed for servitude offences | Connors family members jailed for servitude offences |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A father and son have been jailed for keeping vulnerable men captive and forcing them to work. | A father and son have been jailed for keeping vulnerable men captive and forcing them to work. |
| Tommy Connors Sr, 53, was jailed for eight years and his son Patrick, 21, for five years at Luton Crown Court. | Tommy Connors Sr, 53, was jailed for eight years and his son Patrick, 21, for five years at Luton Crown Court. |
| Both men, from Bedfordshire, had been found guilty in July 2012 of servitude, compulsory labour and assault charges. | Both men, from Bedfordshire, had been found guilty in July 2012 of servitude, compulsory labour and assault charges. |
| But a jury was discharged at a separate trial after failing to reach verdicts on other charges against both men and James Connors, 25, and Tommy Jr, 27. | But a jury was discharged at a separate trial after failing to reach verdicts on other charges against both men and James Connors, 25, and Tommy Jr, 27. |
| The jury at Luton Crown Court failed to reach a verdict on any of the charges against them after deliberating for more than two days. | The jury at Luton Crown Court failed to reach a verdict on any of the charges against them after deliberating for more than two days. |
| The Crown Prosecution Service said it would not be pursuing a retrial. | The Crown Prosecution Service said it would not be pursuing a retrial. |
| Passing sentence, Judge Michael Kay said Tommy Connors Sr had targeted men who were "homeless or addicted and isolated" who he knew he could exploit. | |
| Men, often out of work and homeless, even alcoholics, would be recruited at soup kitchens and off the street with the promise of paid work, food and lodgings. | Men, often out of work and homeless, even alcoholics, would be recruited at soup kitchens and off the street with the promise of paid work, food and lodgings. |
| "It was a monstrous and callous deceit" the judge said. | "It was a monstrous and callous deceit" the judge said. |
| The judge said over the years, hundreds of vulnerable workers had been recruited and would have been subject to threats of violence and intimidation if they wanted to leave. | |
| Many had managed to flee once they realised they had been duped by Tommy Connors Sr, but the judge said a small number had been so degraded and manipulated by him they had not been able to summon the courage to take matters into their own hands and run away. | |
| The judge acknowledged that for Patrick Connors, keeping vulnerable workers and exploiting them had been a way of life he had been born into. | |
| "You thought this was a normal way of life," he told him, adding that he had also assaulted workers when he was in a bad mood or unhappy with them. |