BBC News
Published
image captionBrothers Defrim and Jetmir Paci each deny two offences
Three men ran a modern day slavery ring at a car wash, a jury has heard.
Workers at Carlisle s Shiny car wash suffered chemicals burns and were made to live in dirty, rat-infested homes, Carlisle Crown Court was told.
Brothers Defrim and Jetmir Paci, 42 and 37, and Sitar Ali, 33, deny exploiting Romanian nationals at the Warwick Road business during 2016 and 2017.
Prosecutors said the case involved arranging for people to come to the UK to be exploited.
Prosecutor Martin Reid said Defrim Paci operated at the top of the conspiracy having been responsible for buying the land and setting up the hand car wash business.
Denials: Sitar Ali, left, and Defrim Paci, who deny forced labour allegations Three men have gone on trial at Carlisle Crown Court accused of conspiring to force Romanian nationals to perform ‘forced labour’. The three men involved - Sitar Ali, 33, Defrim Paci, 42, and Jetmir Paci, 37 - have all pleaded not guilty to offences arising out of events at the city’s Warwick Road Shiny Car Wash business. The three men deny conspiring, between January, 2016, and June of the following year, to require their employees to perform “forced or compulsory labour” at the car wash business. They also deny conspiring, over the same period, together with others, to arrange or facilitate the travel of Romanian nationals with a view them being exploited at the Shiny Car Wash business.
Denials: Sitar Ali, left, and Defrim Paci, who deny forced labour allegations Three men have gone on trial at Carlisle Crown Court accused of conspiring to force Romanian nationals to perform ‘forced labour’. The three men involved - Sitar Ali, 33, Defrim Paci, 42, and Jetmir Paci, 37 - have all pleaded not guilty to offences arising out of events at the city’s Warwick Road Shiny Car Wash business. The three men deny conspiring, between January, 2016, and June of the following year, to require their employees to perform “forced or compulsory labour” at the car wash business. They also deny conspiring, over the same period, together with others, to arrange or facilitate the travel of Romanian nationals with a view them being exploited at the Shiny Car Wash business.