Mohammed Rafiq, owner of bed manufacturer Kozee Sleep Beds Ltd of Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for human trafficking.
According to The Huddersfield Daily Examiner, this is the first UK case of a company boss being convicted of this crime.
The workers in question – principally Hungarians – were forced to live in squalor and work 80-hour weeks, and were paid as little as £10 a day.
Prior to its closure last year, the company supplied retailers including Next, John Lewis and Dunelm, all of which failed to spot the exploitation during audits, but are said to have improved their approaches as this case unfolded.
