Telford husband and wife jailed after blackmailing convicted sex offender to undertake forced labour
Robert Weaver and Angela Weaver had been living in Telford during the time of the offences.
A husband and wife who forced a convicted sex offender to hand over his benefits and was forced to work for couple for free for more than four years, have both been jailed.
Robert Weaver, 57, and Angela Weaver, 58, both of Consett, Durham, had been living in Telford during the time of the offences between June 3, 2015 and October 5, 2019, Birmingham Crown Court heard on Friday.
Mr Philip Beardwell, prosecuting, said the victim, a convicted sex offender, had moved in with the couple to a Telford property after the three became friends while living in another block of flats in the town.
The court was told that initially the Weavers and their victim got on well, and they would borrow “small sums of money” from one another.
Angela Weaver was also paid carer to an elderly woman who lived with the three of them who had mental health issues, and Mr Beardwell said she used to ask her victim to assist with the care.
However, the barrister said the demands on him increased when the victim’s ex-wife called Angela Weaver and exposed the man’s criminal conviction.
Mr Beardwell said soon he was doing all the care for the woman, and when she died, Angela Weaver told the man he would have to pay her share of the rent or she would “tell everyone he killed her”.
He said the victim was forced to do all the work around the house despite having an elderly mother who he cared for but was only allowed to spend an hour a day with - even on Christmas Day, and was told if he refused they would expose his criminal conviction.
He said the victim was also forced to hand over all his benefits to the Weavers, leaving him having to share his mother’s welfare payments, which left just £30 to feed and look after them both.
However, Mr Beardwell said Angela Weaver soon took half of this money as well after the DWP wrote and told her they had overpaid benefits to the women she had cared for.
The court also heard how the victim was forced to sleep on the floor of the Weaver’s property and was not allowed to use the bed in the spare room or eat anything in the home.
Mr Beardwell told the court that a group of men also once confronted the man on the doorstep and threatened to kill him unless he obeyed the couple and did what they told him.
The victim also received a number of letters from debt collectors after the Weavers used his name to rack up debts, including on holidays abroad, forcing him to use his mother’s savings to pay it off.
The court heard that the pair’s crimes were not uncovered until after more than four years when the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) insisted the victim attend fortnightly meetings as they wanted him to return to work.
Mr Beardwell said after becoming suspicious and gleaning from the man what had been going on, the DWP officer called the police, and the Weavers were arrested.
The prosecutor explained that the case against the pair had been “protracted” and listed for trial on at least five occasions since 2021, but eventually Angela Weaver had admitted one count of forced labour under the Modern Slavery Act, and Robert Weaver admitted one count of blackmail.
The court was told that their victim suffered “serious psychological harm” during his time with the Weavers and had twice tried to kill himself.
The court was also told that While Angela Weaver had no criminal convictions, Robert Weaver was jailed in 2006 for threatening somebody with a gun.
Judge Peter Cooke told the pair it was an “egregious and protected display of wickedness”.
“He was grotesquely abused during that period for your gain,” he told them.
He jailed Robert Weaver for five years and four months.
He handed Angela Weaver, who the court heard had disabilities, four years.
He told the pair they would both serve at least 40 per cent of their prison term and added that a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing was due to take place to recover as much of the victims’ money as was possible.