Acquittal for modern slaves found in cannabis farm

Following an 8-day trial at Aylesbury Crown Court, Louise Willocx persuaded the jury that her client had been forced to work in a cannabis farm as victim of modern slavery, leading to his acquittal for being involved in the production of cannabis. 

Louise’s client, and his co-defendant, were Vietnamese men who had been trafficked into the UK. After having worked for years without pay on UK construction sites, with their smugglers holding them in debt bondage, they were brought to a cannabis farm near Aylesbury. They were locked up in truly degrading circumstances, monitored with cameras, threatened with violence and forced to cultivate cannabis without receiving any pay. 

In cross-examination, Louise laid bare the police’s failure to conduct any investigations into the organized crime group that exploited her client and to investigate his modern slavery claim. The police officer then admitted that they did not investigate this because there are rarely any cannabis farms which are not characterized by the brutality of the drug world. 

Having taken the jury carefully through how the modern slavery defence applied to her client, the jury acquitted both men in less than two hours. 

Louise was instructed by Ashley Tibble from ABV solicitors.