Landlord accused of keeping vulnerable men as ‘slaves’

Court told Hargit Bariana beat and bullied
six tenants into working without pay at his takeaways

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Hargit Bariana allegedly forced the men to put in long shifts at
his chip shop and pizza takeaways, in Blyth and in
Sunderland, in return for leftover food and
alcohol, the BBC reports. 

The 46-year-old denies eight modern slavery charges, as well as
robbery and supplying diazepam.

Newcastle Crown Court was told that Bariana
used “tenants in his multi-occupancy house as unpaid labour and
kept them in line with beatings and by stealing their shoes”,
says The Times.

Prosecutor Christopher Knox told the jury: “This is about
exploitation.”

Bariana preyed upon men “whom he knew were vulnerable in all
cases because they were either homeless, or near homeless, they had
drug or alcohol dependencies or both”, Knox said. “They were,
in practical terms, people at a low ebb and were easily bullied,
coerced and forced to do work.”

One of his alleged victims, who cannot be identified, said he
moved in after being freed from prison. The man, in his
40s, told the court that he gave his £76-a-week housing
benefit, plus £20 from other benefits, to Bariana but was also
forced to work at his takeaways. “I was expected to work every
day,” he said.

The day after moving in, the witness said, he was “sent to paint
a ceiling at one of the takeaways and help strip out the other”,
reports the BBC.

According to Newcastle’s Evening Chronicle, when questioned about
whether he had ever asked Bariana to pay him, the man replied: “Not
really. He bought a bottle of alcohol every night. I’m alcohol
dependent, he knew that.”

The trial continues.