Disabled man forced to work as slave for 35 years… but still not a hate crime, says CPS

[KamaAina]

http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/disabled-man-forced-to-work-as-slave-for-35-years-but-still-not-a-hate-crime-says-cps/

Three people were convicted unanimously by a jury last week of requiring the 52-year-old man to perform forced or compulsory labour, after a four-week trial at Oxford Crown Court.

The man, who has learning difficulties, was forced to live in a brick shed that was described as unfit for human habitation, and to undertake heavy manual labour, working for more than 12 hours a day, for which he was paid just £5 a day....

The three defendants also applied for and collected his benefits – worth £139,000 – for 13 years and as a result were also convicted of conspiracy to defraud following a trial last November.

They will be sentenced next month for this charge, and the forced labour, but CPS has already confirmed to Disability News Service that the offences have not been treated as disability hate crime.

[Angry Dragon]

1. I agree .........WTF

[MADem]

2. That poor man "served" 35 years at hard labor.

If the people who did this to him don't get at LEAST that, then life is just not fair.

I agree with this woman:

“Why is it not a disability hate crime when a disabled person is abused, humiliated, stolen from, made to do work they do not want to do?

“For us, it is common sense that if someone is targeted due to perceived ‘vulnerability’ and that ‘vulnerability’ is due to being a disabled person then that is hate crime.

“No matter what the law or the CPS say, we, disabled people, are the experts. We know what is or is not hate crime and it is our voice, our perception, and that of the victim that should take precedence.

“It is obvious that the justice system still has a lot of work to do on this issue. Such cases do not inspire our confidence.”