A ‘BULLY’ who forced a former Russian soldier to live in a tent and paid him only in sweets and lager for four months has been jailed.

John Rooney, of Holly Bush Lane, Iver, was jailed for three years on Friday last week (26/9) after being convicted of servitude - believed to be only the second in the UK to have faced the charge.

Rooney, 35, was labelled a ‘horrid bully’ by Judge Francis Sheridan, who ordered him to pay £10,000 compensation to his victim, Maris Smilga.

The court heard Mr Smilga, 46, had worked constructing block paving for Rooney for two years, enduring back-breaking conditions and being paid just £30 per day despite regularly working in excess of 12 hours straight.

Mr Smilga, a Latvian national, was initially allowed to live in a caravan on Rooney’s father-in-law’s site in Iver, but was then forced to live in a tent which had a hole in the roof, allowing rain and snow in during winter.

For four-and-a-half months from January 1, 2013, to May 16, he did not receive any pay at all, instead occasionally being given sweets, lager and tobacco by Rooney, who forced him to clean his family’s caravans after long days of paving.

Judge Sheridan told Aylesbury Crown Court, Mr Smilga had started working for Rooney in desperation after his passport expired and he had nowhere else to turn to.

“He was prepared to work never-ending hours, day in, day out, with about two days per month off,” he said.

Rooney would quote customers up to £7,000 for paving jobs but would not pass on the money to Mr Smilga.

The court heard Mr Smilga had served in the Russian Army in Russia and Latvia and was described as ‘a tough man’ by Judge Sheridan.

“But he was terrified, his spirit had been murdered so that he was frightened. He feared that if he tried to leave the travelling community would catch him and beat him,” he said.

Had Mr Smilga been paid the legal minimum wage for the four and a half months he was unpaid, he would have earned £9,086 based on his hours.

He eventually went to police in July 2013 and when Rooney was arrested he was found to have more than £2,000 in cash in his pocket.

Charles Ward-Jackson, prosecuting, said the only similar case the Crown Prosecution Service was aware of was that of Tommy Connors and his son Patrick, who were jailed for eight years and five years respectively in May 2013 for running a work gang with up to 100 members that raked in £3m pounds.

Simon Kitchen, mitigating, told the court threats of violence were not made by Rooney himself, who had suffered serious health problems and undergone several operations since his arrest.

He said Rooney, who is married with four children and a fifth due imminently, was a church-going man who was well-respected by those that knew him. He added Rooney was not wealthy and had sold his truck since his arrest, but Judge Sheridan contended that he did not believe Rooney had not made a substantial income from his paving business.

Addressing Rooney via videolink, Judge Sheridan said: “He was kept in poverty and treated appallingly. You held out the hope that you would help him out with papers and documents but you never did.

“If you count the time he had to work as a skivvy around your father-in-law’s caravan site, the wages he earned were less than £1.25 per hour.

“You are a horrid bully, you threatened and abused this man.” Rooney was also disqualified from driving for two years.