TWO Carlisle car wash bosses were jailed for the shocking mistreatment and exploitation of workers who traveled to the UK from their native Romania in search of a better life.
Defrim Paci and Sitar Ali were jailed for modern slavery crimes by a judge who heard of the harrowing effects of their crime on four men, who courageously testified to police and helped bring the couple to justice after a careful investigation by multiple agencies.
Carlisle Crown Court was told that Paci, a 42-year-old father of four, was leading a criminal plot to exploit exhausted employees who were forced to work long hours in poor conditions for less than the minimum wage in Shiny on Warwick Road. They were also placed in filthy city shelters.
Some were left with just £ 20 on the weekly wage package despite working 11 hours a day, six days a week, as their freedom was “effectively overridden,” according to prosecutors. Payrolls exaggerated pay and underestimated the hours of workers left with sore feet, cracked hands and exhausted. Documents found in Paci’s possession and telephone evidence showed Paci’s continued interest in the car wash despite his denials.
Meanwhile, Ali was managing the shiny site and denying the men adequate breaks and days off. Some have said that the skin has been “burned” by “toxic” cleaning chemicals and that protective clothing has not been given. One worker recalled buying cheap Tesco gloves to protect his hands.
Despite their staunch disapprovals, Paci of Windmill Close, Sutton-in-Ashfield, and Ali of Adelaide Street, Carlisle, were each convicted of two modern slavery crimes, committed over 15 months in 2016 and 2017. Ali was also found guilty of possession of criminal property after £ 16,000 was found in his car after police began making arrests during their criminal investigation.
The four Romanian victims, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, were 49, 34, 32 and 21 years old.
Judge Nicholas Barker noted that Ali was a man of former good character and had since taken steps to run the business properly.
Judge Barker imprisoned Paci for 45 months and Ali for 39 months, stressing the need for “deterrent areas” to be shown within the sentence to show that such offenses “will not be tolerated by the courts.”
“I am pleased with the evidence you have worked with Defrim Paci. Although you have all played different roles, you have done so on an equal footing within your organization, ”Judge Barker told Ali. “You realized that lowering labor costs would significantly increase your profits.”
He told the two men, “It was the circumstances you designed that workers were in that left them vulnerable and helpless.
