Welsh pair jailed for abusing and enslaving a mentally disabled man

A father and son have been jailed for repeatedly assaulting and abusing a vulnerable homeless man who was held as a slave at their scrap metal yard in south Wales.

Anthony Baker, 49, and Harvey Baker, 19, ran the business near Swansea where the victim was forced to live in a squalid caravan and work without payment.

The 20-year-old victim, who had learning disabilities, was given only one meal a day – a tin of soup or baked beans or out-of-date leftovers from a bakery – but compelled to work for 16 hours a day.

Anthony Baker was jailed for 10 years and told he must serve at least two thirds before he could apply for parole. Harvey was sentenced to six years in a young offenders’ institution.

The judge, Paul Thomas QC, said it would have been appalling if the pair had treated their animals in the way they treated the victim and added he believed they enjoyed the power they had over him.

Police went to the yard in January after a tip-off and found the victim working. He had extensive bruising and could not speak clearly due to facial injuries including a broken jaw. He was wearing dirty and ill-fitting clothes. A nurse who examined him said he looked like a concentration camp victim.

At first he was so frightened he told police he had been in a fight but he later explained he would work all day and received no payment other than a tiny amount of food.