A GLAA statement, released this morning, revealed Josh Beesley was handed a 20-month prison sentence after appearing at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday (22 July).

Beesley, of Wigan, previously pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting an unlicensed gangmaster and conspiring to commit fraud by abuse of position in court last month.

He was charged with the offences which relate to a multi-agency operation to tackle suspected labour exploitation in Liverpool in March 2018 in which 41 Romanian workers were found by the GLAA.

Beesley, who was jailed for 20 months for the fraud offences and a further eight months to run concurrently for the gangmaster offences, was joined in court by Christopher Beech, who had also pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting an unlicensed gangmaster.

Beech, of Congleton, was handed an eight-month sentence, suspended for 18 months and also given a 10-day rehabilitation order and community order requiring him to complete 250 hours of unpaid work.