Alleged trafficking victim came willingly - court

Sokol Rranci told Nottingham Crown Court that the man had been willing to work for him

A man accused of trafficking a Greek national into the UK has said the alleged victim came to the country willingly.

Sokol Rranci, 28, has admitted being involved in running cannabis farms across Yorkshire and the East Midlands, but denies trafficking and firearms offences.

He told Nottingham Crown Court that the man knew he would be working for the operation.

He said some people claimed to be trafficking victims “to stay in this country”.

Mr Rranci, who gave evidence through an Albanian interpreter, said he knew the Greek man, who cannot be named, through a mutual friend.

He disputed the man’s claim that he had come to the UK under the false impression that he would be working in a Greek restaurant in Sheffield, saying he knew he would be working at a cannabis farm.

He said the man stole money from him, at which point he decided to take him to their mutual friend’s property and leave him there.

'Pretend for their own benefit'

Cross-examining him, Roger Smart for the prosecution said: “You were cross with him enough, because he had stolen money from you, to punch him in the face?”

Mr Rranci said: “Yes, I was cross with him enough because he stole money from me.”

He denied threatening the man with a pair of scissors or an imitation gun.

Mr Smart asked Mr Rranci whether he was aware that people were sometimes held against their will and “forced to become growers in cannabis grows”?

Mr Rranci said: “Maybe they pretend like they are like that for their own benefit.”

He said they could do so "to be able to stay in this country and to be able to obtain money from this country”.

The jury previously heard police had uncovered 14 cannabis farms in Mansfield, Barnsley, Doncaster, Hull, Scunthorpe, Worksop and Withernsea.

Mr Rranci is on trial alongside his brother, Amarildo Rranci, 30, and both have admitted conspiracy to produce a Class B drug.

Sokol Rranci, of St Anne’s Drive, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, and Amarildo Rranci, now of Ferry Road, Scunthorpe, both deny arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation.

Sokol Rranci also denies a charge of possessing a firearm or imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

The trial continues.

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