Man avoids jail after vulnerable victim found living in squalid shed

A man who exploited a vulnerable victim found living in a squalid shed has walked free from court.

On Friday, Peter Swailes Jr, 56, was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court to a nine-month jail term, suspended for 18 months.

The victim had been “used and exploited” for 40 years while living with the defendant’s father Peter Swailes Snr, the court heard.

He was made to live in a horse box, a disused caravan and more recently in a shed on a residential site north of Carlisle.

The Crown accepted the defendant’s guilty plea last month to conspiracy to arrange or facilitate the travel of another with a view to exploitation on the basis he was unaware of the victim’s living conditions.

Peter Swailes Snr, 80, who died last year while awaiting trial, had denied the offence.

The charges came following a three-year investigation by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, supported by Cumbria Police and the National Crime Agency, after a man was found living in a 6ft shed with no lighting and a soiled duvet on the floor.

The victim received specialist help after he was rescued and now lives in supported accommodation outside Cumbria.