12 September 2011
Operation Netwing – Slavery Arrest Update
Detectives today continue to question four of the five people in
custody who were arrested under the Slavery and Servitude Act in
Leighton Buzzard.
The woman arrested is pregnant and has been released on police
bail and will be questioned further following the birth of her
child which is imminent. Enquiries to locate two further suspects
are underway.
Of the 24 vulnerable people who were taken from the Greenacre
Caravan Site in Great Billington by police yesterday, nine have
left the medical reception centre and have chosen not to support
the police investigation. At the moment the remaining 15 continue
to be assessed for medical and welfare needs and interviews with
detectives will commence today. It will take a number of days to
establish exactly what has happened to them while living on the
site.
The victims that remain and are assisting the investigation
include eight British men, three Polish men, a Latvian man and
Lithuanian man and two further men whose nationalities are
unconfirmed at this time. The oldest man is 57 (British) and the
youngest is 30 (British). The others range between these ages. The
men who chose to leave were British and two were Romanian. The
youngest person found on site was a 17-year-old British man who has
left the care of police and re-joined his family.
Operation Netwing is being led by Bedfordshire Police, supported
by the local and health authorities and other agencies as well as
the Human Trafficking Centre at SOCA.
DCI Sean O’Neil, from the Beds and Herts Major Crime Unit,
investigating said: “Those people who we continue to help are
appreciative of the support that is on offer, but it will take some
time to work through with them what has happened. The new
legislation has allowed the investigation more scope and takes into
account emotional rather than physical harm. I am confident that
while the investigation is in its early stages this is a family run
‘business’ and is an organised crime group that has been broken up
by the Netwing operation.”
Any who wishes to talk to the police about this matter should
call 01707 355798, or Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111 which is both
anonymous and independent from the police. You do not have to give
your name.
