A Carlisle car wash worker told a jury that he had no breaks during busy times, had “cracked hands” from cleaning chemicals, and slept on a mattress “full of insects” in “very dirty” staff quarters.
At today’s crown court in the city, the man was the third employee to testify in the trial of three men who deny alleged modern slavery crimes.
These focus on the Shiny car wash on Warwick Road and were allegedly committed in 2016 and 2017.
The man remembered traveling from London and an initial job at another Carlisle car wash before moving to Shiny, where his cousin also worked. The shifts started at 8 a.m. and some breaks were taken.
But the man said, “If it was very busy we couldn’t stop for lunch; Breaks for cigarettes; we cannot sit at all. ”
He was responsible for wiping cars and doing jet washes. When asked what else is used to clean vehicles, he replied: “Shampoo, acid and another substance. First we sprayed a blue clear substance. ”
He continued, “Then the acid was sprayed onto the wheels of the cars. It was a very poisonous substance.
“If it came in contact with the water, a lot of steam was released and you felt hot. I coughed a lot. “
When asked if he had told Chef Sitar Ali, he replied: “Yes. I showed him my very chapped hands because of the shampoo. “
Ali, he told the jury, also spoke in an “angry tone” when he gave him a day off after four weeks of work. And when he described the staff quarters on Compton Street as “very dirty,” he remembered not having a duvet to sleep in and added, “In terms of furniture, the bed I slept in was great old. The mattress was full of bugs. “
Ali, 33, of Adelaide Street, Carlisle, and the Defrim Paci brothers, 42, of Windmill Close, Sutton-in-Ashfield; and 37-year-old Jetmir Paci of Minimum Terrace, Chesterfield, both deny conspiracy to use others in forced or compulsory labor at Shiny, Carlisle; and conspiracy to facilitate travel with a view to exploitation.
Ali also denies having criminal money. The process continues.
