Brothers cleared of human trafficking charges

Sokol and Amarildo Rranci stood trial at Nottingham Crown Court

Two brothers who have admitted conspiring to run cannabis farms have been found not guilty of human trafficking.

Sokol Rranci, 28, and Amarildo Rranci, 30, had been standing trial on modern slavery charges at Nottingham Crown Court.

A jury also found Sokol Rranci not guilty of a firearms offence.

The pair are due to be sentenced on Friday for their part in running cannabis farms across Yorkshire and the East Midlands.

The court had previously heard that police found 14 cannabis farms in Mansfield, Barnsley, Doncaster, Hull, Scunthorpe, Worksop and Withernsea.

A Greek national, who cannot be named, had claimed he was trafficked into the UK after being told he was being given a job in a restaurant.

The man claimed the brothers had kept him in a house where cannabis was being grown.

He claimed to have been threatened with a pair of scissors and a gun or imitation gun.

However, the defence case was that the man had come to work in the cannabis operation willingly.

A jury found Sokol Rranci, of St Anne’s Drive, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, not guilty of arranging travel of another person with a view to exploitation and not guilty of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

They found Amarildo Rranci, of Ferry Road, Scunthorpe, not guilty of facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation.

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