Harrogate car wash owner found guilty of modern slavery

A Harrogate car wash owner has today been found guilty of modern slavery crimes.

Defrim Paci, a 42-year-old married father-of-four, was one of two men convicted at Carlisle Crown Court.

Mr Paci is sole director of Harrogate Hand Carwash on Sykes Grove but the crimes were committed against workers at a Carlisle car wash.

After a six-week trial, Paci, of Windmill Close, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire and Sitar Ali, of Adelaide Street, Carlisle, were unanimously convicted of conspiracy to require others to perform forced or compulsory labour at the Carlisle car wash Shiny, and conspiracy to facilitate travel with a view to exploitation.

Jurors deliberated for almost 27 hours across six days.

The court heard graphic evidence about terrible conditions in which employees at Shiny were forced to carry out daily duties.

Several told of working long hours for little pay and being denied breaks when the car wash was busy during 2016 and 2017, and not being given the freedom to take time off.

One described being left “very tired”, hungry and with just £20 in his first pay packet as he worked nine long days in a row. He was also one of several workers who complained that no protective clothing was provided, and said water had “eaten away at my feet” as it seeped through his trainers.

Skin burned

One worker recalled buying cheap gloves from Tesco to protect his hands from cleaning chemicals which, some employees complained, burned the skin on their face and body.

Workers also reported rat and insect infestation sightings in their “very dirty” Carlisle multi-occupancy accommodation, having paid for transportation from their native Romania to north Cumbria.

Travel costs and deposits were deducted from weekly pay and wage slips, where issued, understated working hours and overstated the amount of money earned.

Employees were taken to a charity safe centre on May 10, 2017, when health and safety officers called at Shiny, issuing several improvement notices as police arrested suspects.

One worker later told police:

“They treated me the same like they would do with a slave.”

Paci ‘operated at the top’

Paci was said to have “operated at the top” of the criminal enterprise, buying land and setting up a business, which was managed by Sitar Ali.

Ali was also convicted of possessing criminal property after £16,000 was found in a BMW after his arrest.

Martin Reid, prosecuting, told jurors:

“It is the prosecution case that the circumstances created by the defendants led to the freedom of these workers effectively being overridden.”

Paci and Ali will be sentenced on July 30.

Denied bail

Barristers representing the two men made pleas for bail in the meantime, so they could put “affairs in order” ahead of sentencing, which one suggested was a “significant inevitability”.

But Judge Nicholas Barker remanded both men into custody, saying.

“I fully accept that these matters have been hanging over you for many, many years now and you have been on bail for an extended period of time.

“However, the fact of your convictions changes the circumstances. In my judgement there is a flight risk that you have. Both of you have access to connections overseas.”

A third man, 37-year-old Jetmir Paci, was acquitted by jurors of two conspiracy allegations.

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Sculpture trail heads to Harrogate’s RHS Harlow Carr

A new sculpture trail inspired by the seasons is heading to RHS Harlow Carr next month.

The Four Seasons will open in the Harrogate gardens on July 7 and run until summer 2022, so there’s opportunity to experience the trail at all times of year.

Each sculpture is a four and a half metre tall fibreglass head inspired by Renaissance paintings by Italian artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo.

Artist and filmmaker Philip Haas’s heads depict spring, summer, autumn and winter in human form. They are adorned with seasonal fruit and vegetables, flowers and crops.

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As well as the trail, RHS Harlow Carr will also hold a series of floristry workshops. The first event, where people can create bouquets and wreaths, will be on July 1.

Paul Cook, RHS Garden Harlow Carr curator, said:

“The locations of the Four Seasons have been carefully chosen. Summer is surrounded by meadow flowers, whilst Winter echoes the mature trees around the sculpture.

“Autumn will be a talking point as the fruit and vegetables in our Kitchen Garden mature and Spring will see new foliage emerge.

“With the exhibition taking place at Harlow Carr over multiple seasons, another transformation will occur to alter and enrich the viewer’s perspective – the passage of time, the play of light and weather on the sculptures.”

Harrogate’s Luke Richardson flies to America for World’s Strongest Man

Harrogate strongman sensation Luke Richardson is set to compete in the World’s Strongest Man in America this week.

Luke, who turns 24 on Sunday, is one of 25 men in Sacramento vying for the right to be called the strongest on the planet.

If he wins he will be the youngest man ever to hold the title.

This year’s event is expected to be broadcast to 500 million people in 70 countries. It will be shown on Channel 5 in the UK over Christmas and on CBS Sports Network in the United States next month.

Britain has a great pedigree in the event, with former winners including Geoff Capes, Jamie Reeves and Gary Taylor, but endured a 24-year wait until Eddie Hall triumphed in 2017.

Luke Richardson

Luke Richardson

Luke, who is 6ft 3 and weighs 330 lbs, took the sport by storm last year when he won Europe’s Strongest Man in Knaresborough and finished ninth in the World’s Strongest Man in his first full season of strongman.

This year he has been drawn in a group with Canadian JF Caron, American Robert Oberst, Iceland’s Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted and Russian Mikhail Shivlyakov.

The heats, which begin on Wednesday and last three days, include events such as the train pull, deadlift and pickaxe hold.

The two-day final will culminate, as ever, with the Atlas stones.

Luke went to Starbeck Community Primary School and Harrogate High School and now trains at Absolute Fitness in Boroughbridge and LR Strength Shed in Wetherby, which he and training partner Richard Parish opened.

Harrogate district’s race to vaccinate as coronavirus rates rise

The Harrogate district’s covid infection rate has returned to levels not seen since March.

The news comes ahead of tonight’s expected government announcement that the planned June 21 unlocking will be delayed by four weeks.

The Delta variant first identified in India was confirmed to have arrived in North Yorkshire last month and Harrogate’s weekly infection rate has since more than tripled.

However, there were no covid patients in Harrogate District Hospital as of last Wednesday and it has been two months since it recorded a death.

Public Health England figures show the latest infection rate for the Harrogate district is 52 cases per 100,000 people – up from 16 this time last month.

The latest figure is also above the North Yorkshire average of 41, but below the England average of 70.

Meanwhile, more than 111,000 people in the district have now received their first covid jab and over 92,000 their second.

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Under the roadmap out of lockdown, England was due to move to stage four on June 21 when events and venues, including nightclubs, would be allowed to operate without capacity limits, and the cap on guests at weddings would also be lifted.

But many scientists have called for a delay to enable more people to be vaccinated and allow more time for work on whether vaccines are breaking or weakening the link between infections and hospitalisations.

Speaking at a meeting on Thursday, councillor Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, said with hopes of lockdown restrictions lifting now fading, “the race is on” to vaccinate as many people as possible as the spread of infections gathers pace.

“The light is still there but the increase in Delta variant transmissions is worrying. The trend is going upwards, hospitalisations are increasing and it also seems to be spreading into younger people who until recently seemed to be relatively immune.

“The race is on to vaccinate all of us as soon as possible. This is not over yet and we just have to be careful still.”

Great Yorkshire Show ‘monitoring situation’ as lockdown announcement looms

The organisers of the Great Yorkshire Show have said they are “monitoring the national situation” ahead of tonight’s government announcement on lockdown.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to give a news conference at 6pm tonight.

All social distancing measures are due to be lifted on June 21 but Mr Johnson is expected to say current restrictions will remain in place for four more weeks until July 19.

The Great Yorkshire Show is scheduled to take place from July 13 to 16 so the announcement could impact on its plans.

However, the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, the agricultural charity that organises the event, has already included various social distancing measures into this year’s planning.

They include holding the show over four days, rather than three, capping daily visitor numbers to 25,000, reducing the grandstand capacity to 30% and adapting the show to use as much outdoor space as possible.

This has raised hopes the event will be able to proceed as planned but the situation should become clearer after the ramifications of tonight’s announcement are known.

In a statement today, the society said:

“The Great Yorkshire Show is monitoring the national situation and we are awaiting details from tonight’s announcement.

“We continue to work closely with North Yorkshire County Council public health and Harrogate Borough Council.”

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Live: Harrogate traffic and travel

Good morning, it’s Leah with you this morning giving you updates every 15 minutes on the road and rail links near you.

Our live blog, brought to you by The HACS Group, will give you up-to-date information on traffic hotspots or where it may be building and the temporary lights in place. We also keep an eye on any bus or train delays.

If it is safe, please get in touch on our social media channels or call me on 01423 276197 if you experience any delays.

9am – Full Update 

That’s it from me this morning, Suzannah will be back with you tomorrow from 6.30am with updates every 15 minutes. Have a lovely day!

Roads

The district’s roads are starting to look busier this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic Hotspots:

Traffic is building in these area’s:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

8.45am – Full Update 

Roads

The district’s roads are starting to look busier this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic Hotspots:

Traffic is building in these area’s:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

8.30am – Full Update 

Roads

The district’s roads are starting to look busier this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic Hotspots:

Traffic is building in these area’s:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

8.15am – Full Update 

Roads

The district’s roads are starting to look busier this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic is building in these area’s:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

8am – Full Update 

Roads

The district’s roads are starting to look busier this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic is building in these area’s:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

7.45am – Full Update 

Roads

The district’s roads are starting to look busier this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic is building in these area’s:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

7.30am – Full Update 

Roads

The district’s roads are starting to look busier this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Traffic is building in these area’s:

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

7.15am – Full Update 

Roads

The district’s roads are looking clear so far this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

7am – Full Update 

Roads

The district’s roads are looking clear so far this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

6.45am – Full Update 

Roads

The district’s roads are looking clear so far this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

6.30am – Full Update 

Roads

The district’s roads are looking clear so far this morning, keep checking for today’s traffic hotspots.

Temporary traffic lights are in place here:

Trains

Buses

 

77% women have been sexually harassed in a pub, says Harrogate-based survey

A survey organised by a Harrogate company shows 77% of women and 27% of men have experienced sexual harassment whilst visiting a pub.

The survey received 741 responses and was set up by Women on Tap, a Harrogate community interest company which hosts an annual festival to remove stigma around women drinking beer.

It said the respondents were mainly local to the Harrogate district but also included a proportion from the North West and London.

The results were “shocking and worrying”, according to the event co-ordinator Nichola Bottomley, who said more needs to be done locally to tackle the issue.

The survey also found that only 9% of respondents who witnessed harassment had reported it to the police. Also, whilst working in a bar, 73% of women and 38% of men said they have been harassed.

Ms Bottomley said:

“One of the quotes we received on the survey was ‘you just become numb to it’ and that really stuck with me. But it is true for so many women. It’s awful. We really need to do something about this.”

Ms Bottomley, who has been harassed in Harrogate, says the results will be discussed with local bar owners, licensing organisations and North Yorkshire Police in hopes of finding solutions.

She is also hoping to build an education tool from the results to be used in schools for teenagers to teach them how to be safe.

She said:

“I do think hard stats are the only way to get through to people sometimes. I really hope the results will help people open their eyes in hopes of making change.

“As someone who works in a bar it’s important for me to talk to bar owners and staff to make sure they can and are comfortable handling a situation if someone reported something to them.”

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The survey was in collaboration with Chalk Back, an international movement, using chalk drawing to raise awareness for harassment. The festival has hosted two chalk events this weekend with quotes from the story written on Harrogate’s streets.

The survey’s respondents were mainly local to the Harrogate district but also included a proportion from the North West and London.

Stray Views: police pledge to tackle fast and noisy cars is hollow

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. See below for details on how to contribute.

Police speed clampdown is a joke

The police pledge to clamp down on fast and noisy cars in Harrogate is beyond a joke. My wife and I live in Hartwith Drive, a street that has a supposed 20mph speed limit… or so the signage indicates.

Several years ago I attempted to encourage the police and council to take steps towards enforcing the limit. A speed monitor was attached to a street lamp-post and data downloaded. I still hold a copy of the results.

North Yorkshire Police’s deputy chief constable, however, made clear that it did not support 20mph. The irrelevant police commissioner also gave absolutely no support to our case. Years later and cars and motorbikes are still driven, frequently, at well over the 20mph limit. We can regularly hear the unmistakable sound of speeding vehicles within earshot from Ripon Road.

The police should be taking a hardline stance against the problem of speeding vehicles but the sad fact is that they need support from the public and that may well be sadly lacking. There is no point the police making bold statements if they are not prepared to follow them up with action.

Tim Walls, Jennyfields

Boy racers are a daily occurrence

Prior to the recent crash on Mayfield Grove, we have for many years suffered from boy racers tearing up and down our road. Most seem to have removed the baffles from the exhaust.

Every day we have about six cars speeding up and down Mayfield Grove and going up Franklin Road. You can also hear them racing up King’s Road.

I will shortly be setting up a Mayfield Grove and Mayfield Terrace residents association with other neighbours who are concerned about the speeding cars, cars being damaged and drug dealing in the area.

Paul Ivison, Mayfield Grove, Harrogate

If anyone would like to join this association email us at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk and we will pass on your details to Mr Ivison.

Rewilding is great – but plastic flowers are awful

I was heartened by the positive responses to the rewilding of the Stray, which I certainly welcome.

Those who feel that the horticultural prestige of the town is threatened by borders of wild flowers would be far better focusing their ire on the proliferation of plastic garlands, which appear to be the latest ‘must-have’ outdoor decorations at bars and shops around the town.

Not only are they no match for the real thing in terms of attractiveness, they also produce yet more plastic pollution at a time of increasing environmental awareness.

Yes, hanging baskets and tubs take time and energy to maintain but are well worth the effort and I know which most visitors would prefer to see. For a town that’s been a Britain in Bloom gold medal winner, it’s a disappointing new trend.

Gillian Parkin, Harrogate

Great to see wildflowers on the Stray

I’d like to add my support to Harrogate Borough Council on its rewilding efforts.

We need more wildflowers everywhere. The Stray has previously been kept as an ecological desert.

Encouraging wildflowers can only be good for our local insect life and should be widely supported on purely scientific grounds.

Well done Harrogate Borough Council on being led by the science!

Charlie McCarthy, Harrogate

Don’t let Harrogate become a dead town

I was shocked to find all parking both sides of James Street blocked with boxes full of plants.

Only three places were available for blue badge holders. Thankfully, I have a blue badge and parked. Ironically there were some signs saying SHOP LOCAL. Well, people would if they could park.

I know several who go to Northallerton now: easy parking and free in many places. The shops are having a bad time and have been for 14 months. Some have closed and gone.

Please don’t subject us to being a dead town. It’s so sad to see Harrogate’s style and variety taking a hard knock.

Christine Hill, Burton Leonard

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Harrogate residents divided on June 21 reopening

Harrogate residents are divided on whether the government will release all lockdown restrictions on June 21.

With just over a week to go, speculation is growing about the final step of the coronavirus road map in the UK.

So we went out to ask the people of Harrogate what they think will happen on June 21.

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Harrogate firm posts turnover of £300m in ‘year of unprecedented challenges’

Harrogate building equipment rental company Vp has reported a turnover of £308 million and profits of £23.3 million, down from £48.1 million in the previous year.

Vp, which has its headquarters at Central House on Otley Road, said following the pandemic it took steps to reduce costs and save cash including closing or merging 25 of its locations.

The company said trading in the current financial year has started strongly, with the infrastructure sector expected to grow and the housebuilding and construction sectors showing signs of sustained improvement.

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Jeremy Pilkington, chairman of Vp plc, said:

“I am pleased to be reporting a set of results that are ahead of our expectations in a year that has seen unprecedented challenges for the business and its customers. The past twelve months saw a focus on cash management which delivered a significant reduction in net debt.

“We have exited the year at nearly pre-Covid levels which is a better recovery than we anticipated at the beginning of the pandemic.”