A vulnerable man kept as a slave for almost 26 years has won a “record payout” after his family sued the government for denying him adequate compensation. The man, known only as Victim A, waited so long for compensation that his captors, who beat him, fed him on scraps and forced him to lay driveways for little or no pay, have been released from prison. His sister said the £352,000 compensation payment would fund round-the-clock care for her “lovely brother”.
However, lawyers said the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) was “not fit for purpose” after 15 other men held captive with Victim A died before they could take similar action. CICA said it did not comment on individual cases. Victim A, who was in his fifties, was kept in squalor by the Rooney family on a travellers’ site in Lincolnshire, while they lived a life of luxury.
The family violently exploited their victims who were often homeless people or men with learning disabilities, a 2017 trial at Nottingham Crown Court heard. When 11 members of the family were convicted it was the biggest modern slavery case in British legal history. The Rooneys had amassed a £4m fortune from their driveway business, according to a Proceeds of Crime hearing in 2019 at which they were ordered to pay back £1m, most of it to their victims.
However, Victim A’s sister, who at one stage during his captivity had presumed her brother was dead, said he never received “adequate compensation”, being awarded just.