Peter Swailes Jr Wiki
Peter Swailes Jr Biography
Who is Peter Swailes Jr?
Peter Swailes Junior, 56, admitted conspiring with his father Peter Swailes Senior, 80, to financially exploit the man, who said he had been paid £10 a day since July 2015, when the Modern slavery.
Carlisle Crown Court was told the victim had been ‘used and exploited’ for 40 years and was forced to stay in a horse box, disused caravan and most recently in the shed while living with Swailes Sr, who had approached the man when he was around 18 years old and invited him to work with him doing various jobs.
Jailed
Swailes Jr was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for 18 months, but his father died last year while awaiting trial for modern slavery offences, which he denied.
The Crown had accepted Swailes Jnr’s guilty plea last month for conspiracy to arrange or facilitate another person’s journey for exploitation on the grounds that he was unaware of the victim’s living conditions.
Now Solicitor General Alex Chalk has told MPs he would pay “close attention” to the case after he was asked to review it under the unduly lenient sentencing scheme.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Conservative MP Peter Bone said: “On February 4th this year, Peter Swailes Jr was sentenced for a crime involving financial fraud.
‘One person was kept in his shed for up to 40 years. CPS was able to obtain a conviction but he was not sentenced to any prison time. I wonder if the Attorney General would look into this case and see if he was overly lenient.
Mr. Chalk replied: ‘Yes, of course we will see.
Victim
The victim received specialist help after being rescued and is now living in subsidized accommodation on the outskirts of Cumbria.
Swailes Jr, of Low Harker, Carlisle, had agreed that ‘from time to time’ his father contacted him and arranged for the victim to work with him, and that he ‘sometimes’ paid him less than he was supposed to. minimum that was due.
Now Solicitor General Alex Chalk has told MPs he would pay “close attention” to the case after he was asked to review it under the unduly lenient sentencing scheme.
A pre-sentence report assessed Swailes Jr as posing a “very low” risk of recidivism, as well as his personal mitigation, including poor health.
Defendant Barbara Webster had told the court: ‘When was about 18 years old, he was approached by Mr. Swailes Senior and invited to work with him at various jobs.
He lived in the same place as Mr. Swailes senior. He had several lodgings, including a horse trailer, an old trailer, and for the last five years or so, and during this offense, the shed we’ve heard so much about.
The court will know that he lived in the shed adjoining Mr. Swailes’s chalet, with no heating, no lighting, and no floor.
“In stark contrast, the family dog lived in a much more comfortable environment.”
Ms Webster said the victim had a low IQ and “very little understanding of the world around him”. She continued: ‘Police found him living in a rotting shed, with water pouring out, a makeshift bed and coagulated vomit in one corner.
It is not the way anyone would freely choose to live and not where he would be if he could have found a better place to live.
Barbara Webster, prosecuting, said:
The court will know that [the victim] lived in the shed adjoining Mr. Swailes’ chalet, with no heating, no lighting and no floor.”
She employed him on an occasional basis and sometimes paid him less than he should have. That’s why she feels it.
“He was shocked and angry to see the full picture once these proceedings were underway.
‘Peter Swailes is in poor health. He is in constant pain, regularly suffers from mini-strokes and has mobility problems.
He also suffers from mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. It is highly unlikely that he will be able to run a business again.
“He has genuine remorse for his role in this crime.”
In sentencing, Judge Richard Archer told Swailes Jr: “You may not have known the true extent of living conditions, or her precise IQ, but it must have been obvious to you that he had no real appreciation for the potential consequences of some of the work you asked him to do at less than value and with little or no regard for his personal safety.
‘Your culpability for him is minor because he performed a limited function under direction with limited understanding or knowledge of the crime, or at least the effects thereof.’
The judge said he took into account a pre-sentencing report, which assessed Swailes Jr. as having a “very low” risk of recidivism, and also his personal mitigation, including his poor health.
Swailes Jr left the court without comment.
The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, now lives in subsidized accommodation outside Cumbria and has received help from City Hearts, a charity that provides long-term support to survivors of modern slavery.
He said: ‘I was kept in a padlocked shed on a mattress, unable to get out unless told I could. I didn’t run away because I had nowhere to go.
“Now I go for a walk every day just because I can. I enjoy long walks to the shops, watching football and have made new friends.
Investigation
The charges came after a three-year investigation by the Gangmasters and Employment Abuse Authority (GLAA), with the support of Cumbria Police and the National Crime Agency.
GLAA Principal Investigator Martin Plimmer said: “This has been a truly harrowing and traumatic case.
‘At GLAA, our goal above all else is to work in partnership to protect vulnerable and exploited workers.
“The priority from the beginning was always to rescue this individual and we have succeeded.”
Martin Hill, deputy chief of the CPS Northwest Complex Casework Unit, said, “We believe this is the first time a victim of modern slavery has been able to give pre-recorded evidence to a court in England or Wales.”
“It allowed an exceptionally vulnerable victim to tell her own story of what happened her way and ultimately contributed to this guilty plea.”
‘By his statement, Martin Swailes Jr has admitted his own complicity in treating this victim like a modern day slave.
“The victim is now receiving adequate support and I hope that he can now begin to leave the exploitation behind and move on with his life.
