Judge halts Travellers 'slavery' case

The jury in the trial of two Travellers accused of enslaving vulnerable men was discharged yesterday.

The trial at Southampton Crown Court of John Connors, 30, and his brother-in-law Billy Connors, 38, was halted for legal reasons. The men deny holding three men in slavery or servitude at a camp in Hamble, Hampshire, between April 2010 and June 2011.

Judge Peter Henry granted the men bail and ordered a retrial to commence on 7 January next year.

Jerry Connors, 30, from Chertsey in Surrey, was acquitted of all charges on the orders of the judge.