TRAVELLERS who exploited a "vulnerable" man and forced him to do "back-breaking" work have been jailed.

Christopher Joyce and his daughters Mary Joyce and Helen Collins were sentenced this afternoon at Reading Crown Court.

Jurors unanimously found the trio guilty last month of requiring Nicholas Iliff to perform forced or compulsory labour at the Redbridge Hollow travellers site where they all lived.

A jury also unanimously convicted all three defendants last November of conspiracy to defraud Mr Iliff after opening an account in his name and claiming £139,000 of his benefits over 13 years.

Judge Zoe Smith jailed Christopher Joyce, 82, and Mary Joyce, 61, for 21 months each.

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Both were made subject to a restraining order, as well as a slavery and trafficking order.

Helen Collins, 46, was handed a seven-month sentence, suspended for two years, with a two-year supervision requirement.

Judge Smith also ordered £2,000 compensation be paid to Mr Iliff.

They were arrested last March as part of Thames Valley Police’s Operation Stirling investigation into their offending.

Chief crown prosecutor Adrian Foster said it was "shocking" that such offences could occur in modern times, but warned that the case may not be unique.

He asked anyone who feared they may know someone in a similar position to contact police.

Mr Foster also said Nicholas Iliff was a vulnerable man who had little option but to continue working for the Joyces and Collins because he was "trapped by his personal circumstances".

He went on: "They used intimidation, threats of violence and actual violence when unhappy with his work, to prevent the victim leaving them or from alerting the authorities to their mistreatment.

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"They forced him to work very long hours by requiring him to perform menial tasks and manual labour such as collecting scrap metal, cleaning tools and maintenance, for little and sometimes no money and took advantage of his vulnerability and inability to protest in doing so. In effect they treated him like a skivvy.

"The three defendants also opened an account in the victim’s name without his knowledge and claimed various benefits on his behalf for almost 13 years amounting to a substantial sum of money, which was paid into this account; money the victim was unaware of.

"These offences were financially motivated, allowing them to live in relative luxury while the victim was provided with the most basic living standards possible. They were found unanimously guilty of conspiracy to defraud on 16 November 2015, by a jury, at the conclusion of the first trial."

Senior investigating officer at Thames Valley Police Det Chief Insp Mark Glover said: "I hope that the sentence today signifies the end of an extremely distressing period for the victim and that he can finally move on with his life. He has been incredibly brave in speaking to police about what happened to him, and I am pleased that we have been able to secure this conviction and sentencing for him."