A Coventry man has been jailed for six and a half years after exploiting a homeless man in his 60s, forcing him to work at a scrapyard while he lived in a shed in the man’s back garden.
James Dean Harrison, 51, from Shaftesbury Avenue in Keresley End, pleaded guilty to requiring a person to perform forced labour.
Warwickshire Police said the victim had originally approached Harrison for help after becoming homeless. Instead, police said Harrison exploited his vulnerability, took control of his finances and subjected him to physical and verbal abuse over a period lasting more than three years.
Harrison was sentenced to six and a half years in prison after pleading guilty on August 28. He was also served with a Slavery and Trafficking Reparation Order requiring him to pay £10,000 in compensation.
Victim lived in garden shed
The exploitation took place between November 1, 2022 and February 23, 2026.
Police said Harrison accommodated the man, who was in his 60s, in a shed in his back garden after he became homeless and approached Harrison for assistance.
The victim shared the shed with his partner, a woman in her 50s, as well as Harrison’s dog.
Photographs released by police following the sentencing show the cramped conditions inside the structure, including a bed, chair and belongings scattered across the floor.
But providing the man with somewhere to stay was accompanied by increasing control over his life and finances.
Harrison took possession of the victim’s bank cards and refused to give them back.
Initially, the victim was given £30 a day from his own money. Police said this was later reduced to just £20.
Investigators examined the Universal Credit and pension payments received by the victim between 2023 and 2026 and calculated that £63,625.44 was missing from his account.
Police believe Harrison used the money to pay for holidays for himself.
Forced to work at scrapyard
At the same time, the victim was being made to carry out manual labour at a scrapyard.
His work included painting skips, loading and unloading skips and cleaning lorry cabs.
Warwickshire Police said Harrison was alleged to have referred to the man as “Scrapyard Dog” and regularly subjected him to both physical and verbal abuse.
Detectives said the exploitation had a serious impact on the victim’s health as well as depriving him of his money and independence.
The situation eventually came to the attention of authorities after a local councillor met the victim and his partner.
The councillor helped the couple secure emergency accommodation and raised concerns with police, prompting an investigation by Warwickshire Police’s Trafficking and Exploitation Team.
Harrison was arrested on February 25 this year, two days after the period of offending identified by police came to an end.
Police praise Coventry community
Detective Constable Chloe Hutt, who investigated the case, described Harrison’s treatment of the man as “appalling in every way”.
She said the victim had approached Harrison as a friend because he needed help, only for Harrison to exploit him for his labour and money.
Police also credited members of the local community and the councillor who intervened with bringing the situation to their attention.
DC Hutt said officers might never have discovered what was happening without people raising concerns.
The case highlights how modern slavery can involve far more than trafficking people across borders.
Victims can be exploited for labour while living within ordinary communities, particularly where somebody has gained control over their accommodation, money or access to support.
In this case, the victim’s homelessness left him particularly vulnerable when he sought somewhere to live.
Harrison will now serve a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence, while the £10,000 reparation order is intended to provide compensation to the man he exploited.
One response to “Man forced homeless pensioner to work while living in garden shed for more than three years”
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That vile human being should have been made to pay back the £63,000 plus back the system is so floored. Very sad poor man.
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