Boss 'bought' worker, slavery trial in Glasgow is told
A WORKER allegedly housed in a caravan without any running water or even a toilet has told a court that he felt like “a bit of property”.
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James Keith said he was a homeless teenager when he taken off the streets and offered work in the 1990s.
Yesterday, at the High Court in Glasgow, he gave evidence at a trial of four men accused of slavery and violence.
Mr Keith, who is now aged 41, said he met Robert McPhee and his family while staying at a number of travellers’ sites across Scotland and ended up carrying out jobs such as mono-blocking driveways.
But the witness said he ended up feeling “owned” and allegedly suffered serious beatings after trying to escape.
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Sometimes he was alright, other times he was horrible... shouting or hitting you.
Jurors heard claims that McPhee’s son, James McPhee, later told Mr Keith that he had “bought” him from his father and could only leave for “a few grand”.
The witness recalled: “You had no option but to go back. You did not get an option.”
Mr Keith recalled being homeless aged 16 when he was approached by a man outside a pub at Glasgow’s Barras Market and asked if he was looking for work.
He subsequently ended up being taken to a travellers’ site close to the nearby Gallowgate and it was there that he met Robert McPhee, who he got to know as “Bobby”.
GLASGOW COURT PRESS
Prosecutor, Kath Harper asked: “Did he have a nickname?”
Mr Keith replied: “Yes. Tank Commander.”
The witness said that, because the caravan where he stayed did not have any facilities, he had to use those in a nearby café.
Mr Keith started working for McPhee before moving to different sites in Glasgow including in the Hillington and Maryhill areas as well as other locations in Larkhall, Lanarkshire, and Bathgate, West Lothian.
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The witness said he was “just paid whenever” as “that was the way it was” before claiming that, if he did not generate more work while out delivering leaflets, McPhee could become violent.
He said: “Sometimes he was alright, other times he was horrible... shouting or hitting you.”
Miss Harper asked: “What effect did it have?”
Mr Keith: “Not very nice... obviously scared.”
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The court heard the witness first tried to leave while staying at the site in Maryhill. He went to a hostel but told jurors he was “captured”.
Mr Keith said he got “battered” when they returned to the site.
Miss Harper asked: “When you discussed with James McPhee that he apparently owned you. Was there a suggestion how you could not work for him?”
Mr Keith: “Give him money... it would be a good few grand.”
Robert McPhee, 65, James McPhee, 45, 37-year-old Steven McPhee, and John Miller, 38, deny all the allegations, which span the period from 1992 to 2016. The trial continues.
