A fraudster forced a man living in his dirty shed – who he allegedly referred to as his ‘scrapyard dog’ – into manual labor and paid him just £20 a day.
James Dean Harrison, 51, stole money from the victim in his 60s and was said to have beaten him into working at a scrapyard, unloading skips and cleaning lorry cabs.
Harrison took the victim’s bank cards away from him and began paying him just £20 a day using his own money from the stolen accounts.
Based on the victim’s universal credit and pension payments between 2023 and 2026, £63,600 was missing from his account, which police say Harrison used to fund lavish holidays for himself.
The swindler was alleged to have referred to the victim as his ‘scrapyard dog’, and was believed to have regularly subjected him to both physical and verbal abuse between November 1, 2022, and February 23 this year.
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The victim had initially approached Harrison as a friend in need of help, but he decided to exploit him for labor and defraud him of his money instead.
Warwickshire Police began investigating Harrison when a local councillor alerted the force after meeting the victim and his partner.
Investigators later discovered the victim had been living in a dirty shed in Harrison’s garden.
He pleaded guilty to requiring a person to perform forced labor on August 28 and was sentenced to six-and-a-half years behind bars.
In addition to his prison sentence, Harrison was also served with a Slavery and Trafficking Reparation Order to pay compensation of £10,000.
Investigating officer DC Hutt of the Trafficking and Exploitation Team said: ‘The treatment that Harrison subjected the victim to – stripping him of his dignity, his finances, and seriously impacting his health – was appalling in every way.
‘He had approached Harrison as a friend in need of help, and Harrison chose to exploit him for labor and to defraud him of his money. ‘We might never have heard about this had it not been for the local community and their councillor.
‘We thank them for calling this to our attention and allowing us to work to put Harrison in prison for his actions.’
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