Newport 'slavery' police search for more men

Police who investigated the "modern day slavery" case of a vulnerable man found working unpaid on a farm say they are looking for other missing men.

David Daniel Doran, 42, was jailed for four-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to making Darrell Simester perform forced or compulsory labour.

The discovery of Mr Simester, who was forced to work for 13 years, sparked a wider inquiry around Cardiff.

Police said they are trying to find the other men they are concerned about.

Officers have received worrying information about one man in particular who they are now trying to locate.

David Daniel Doran pleaded guilty midway through his trial at Cardiff Crown Court

It comes after Cardiff Crown Court heard how Mr Simester, 44, a timid man who was easily led, was kept in squalid and dirty conditions at Cariad Farm in Peterstone near Newport.

He was living in a cold caravan, washing in a horse trough and working up to 16 hours a day all year round.

Sentencing Doran on Friday, Judge Neil Bidder QC said the way he treated the victim was "repellent and wrong" and "not much better than a slave".

What happened to Mr Simester, from Kidderminster, Worcestershire, led to a wider police investigation.

Acting on intelligence, police launched an operation at Cariad Farm and began digging for possible human remains in September 2013.

Their information proved to be wrong and they found nothing.

But police said there were other leads too and some have already led to the rescue of vulnerable adults.

In other cases the information has been too sketchy and detectives said they do not have enough to go on.

'Worried for his welfare'

They have told BBC Wales that they are increasingly concerned for one man in particular.

Det Supt Paul Griffiths, of Gwent Police, who is heading the investigation, said: "We've got a lot of individual names, nicknames or descriptions and we've been trying to locate them on the basis of the information we have and we've been very successful in identifying a large number of individuals, but equally sometimes information is not substantial enough to locate individuals."

They cannot release the name of the man - they themselves only have a nickname - but they say they are worried for his welfare and following all potential leads to try to find him.

Mr Simester had gone missing after going on a trip to the seaside in Porthcawl, south Wales, in 2000.

Mr Simester had to live in a dirty, squalid caravan at Cariad Farm

He had nowhere to wash himself, only a horse trough outside

As he headed home he was picked up at the side of a dual carriageway by a member of the Doran family and taken to Cariad Farm.

He was only found after his family launched a social media campaign and they received a tip-off from a member of the public.

When they saw him again they could hardly recognise him and described him as being a "broken man" who looked far older than his years.

Health-wise he was in a "horrific state" with a chest infection, a hernia and calloused feet, along with being very malnourished.

David Daniel Doran pleaded guilty midway through his trial to making Mr Simester perform forced or compulsory labour.

His father Daniel Doran, 67, who faced the same charge, was formally found not guilty earlier this month.