Suspended sentence for Fenland gangmaster
18 March 2014
A Cambridgeshire gangmaster who admitted he deliberately destroyed payslips to underpay his workers has been handed a suspended prison sentence.
Tues, 18 Mar 2014A Cambridgeshire gangmaster who admitted he deliberately destroyed payslips to underpay his workers has been handed a suspended prison sentence.
According to the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA), Martyn Slender of Steeple View, March in Cambridgeshire, had two sets of payslips: the first genuine set, which he destroyed, and the second set, which recorded the workers having worked fewer hours, thereby reducing the amount of money owed to them.
Despite being licensed, Slender admitted on Friday [14 March] that he had employed the services of unlicensed labour providers in contravention of the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act.
Peterborough Magistrates’ Court was told that in one instance, a Latvian worker received just £151 for five 10-hour days – which works out at less than half the National Minimum Wage.
The 45-year-old gangmaster, who committed the offence while managing director of Slender Contracting, was given a 12-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months and was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
GLA chief executive officer Paul Broadbent says: “Ultimately, Slender knew what he was doing was wrong but he decided the substantial additional profit he could make by unlawfully underpaying his workers was too much to resist.
“As a result of his greed, he has lost his business, suffered the shame of being publicly exposed as a criminal and must work unpaid for a significant period as a result of his actions.”
As Recruiter reported in February, the accused was one of nine people arrested in a series of dawn raids in the March and Wisbech area on 15 October last year.
According to the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA), Martyn Slender of Steeple View, March in Cambridgeshire, had two sets of payslips: the first genuine set, which he destroyed, and the second set, which recorded the workers having worked fewer hours, thereby reducing the amount of money owed to them.
Despite being licensed, Slender admitted on Friday [14 March] that he had employed the services of unlicensed labour providers in contravention of the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act.
Peterborough Magistrates’ Court was told that in one instance, a Latvian worker received just £151 for five 10-hour days – which works out at less than half the National Minimum Wage.
The 45-year-old gangmaster, who committed the offence while managing director of Slender Contracting, was given a 12-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months and was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
GLA chief executive officer Paul Broadbent says: “Ultimately, Slender knew what he was doing was wrong but he decided the substantial additional profit he could make by unlawfully underpaying his workers was too much to resist.
“As a result of his greed, he has lost his business, suffered the shame of being publicly exposed as a criminal and must work unpaid for a significant period as a result of his actions.”
As Recruiter reported in February, the accused was one of nine people arrested in a series of dawn raids in the March and Wisbech area on 15 October last year.
