A wife and a live-in care worker have been found guilty of enslaving her vulnerable disabled husband in what is believed to be the first case of its kind.
Sarah Somerset-How and George Webb, who were having an affair, kept Tom Somerset-How in dirty conditions and treated him “like a piece of property”.
The pair were charged under modern slavery legislation, typically used when the victim is trafficked or forced to work for no pay. Sarah Somerset-How, 49, and Webb, 50, were found guilty of holding a person in slavery or servitude.
During legal argument that can only be reported now, the prosecution argued that by being held as “a prisoner in his own home”, cut off from family and friends, Tom Somerset-How was in effect being treated as a slave.
Judge Ashworth said there was ample evidence that Sarah Somerset-How and Webb had held him “as if he was a cattle or animal.”
The pair left Tom Somerset-How – who has cerebral palsy, is almost blind, uses a wheelchair and needs 24-hour care – in bed for 90% of the time and allowed him a shower once a week. He went for a year without brushing his teeth.
The 40-year-old history graduate eventually raised the alarm about how he was being treated and a rescue operation, compared in court to a hostage extraction involving police and social services, took place.
Paul Cavin KC, prosecuting, told the jury at Portsmouth crown court: “These offences were a deliberate exploitation and effective enslavement of Tom. The defendants treated him like a piece of property instead of a person they should have cared for.”
The prosecution had alleged that Tom Somerset-How was treated as a “cash cow” and that his money was “plundered”. However, Sarah Somerset-How was found not guilty of fraud and theft.
Jurors were told that the Somerset-Hows moved into a bungalow in Chichester, West Sussex, in 2010. Webb arrived in 2016 to take a position as as a care worker, and the three shared the house.
“Tom gave an estimate that he spent nearly 90% of the next four years in bed,” said Cavin. “Every few months, he was allowed to see his mother. He went weeks without showering and almost a year without brushing his teeth.
“Every aspect of his life was controlled. The independence he had was taken away from him by the defendants. He became a prisoner in his own home. He was entirely dependent on his abusers to stay alive.”
He told a friend in July 2020 about the abuse and the “extraction” happened.
Giving evidence from behind a screen, Tom Somerset-How said the pair went away for weekends together and left him trapped in bed with just a bottle of squash. “I would go entire weeks without getting out of bed, except for when I desperately needed the toilet,” he said. “At one point, I went for five weeks in bed.”
In February 2020, Webb texted Sarah Somerset-How: “No food for dickhead. If he has two meals he will just shit it all.”
She replied: “Remember, we are just using him. Dickhead gets paid soon, so I will take money out of his account for weed.”
The couple’s lawyers had attempted to have the slavery charges dismissed. But Cavin countered: “This is a man who had all his autonomy taken away from him. Total ownership had been taken over him in a way that a master does over a dog when he puts him in the kitchen.”
The judge said: “There is ample evidence that Tom was held as if he was a cattle or animal.”
Webb was convicted of ill-treatment by a care worker, while Sarah Somerset-How, an executive assistant, was convicted of aiding and abetting him. Webb was also found guilty of assault causing actual bodily harm after an incident where he hit Tom Somerset-How with a shoe.
After the verdicts were delivered, Tom Somerset-How said: “I am very pleased. Justice has been served.”
The pair will be sentenced at a later date.
