Forced work trial: Darrell Simester says men 'looked after me'

Darrell Simester had been missing for 13 years

A vulnerable man allegedly forced to work for 13 years at a Newport farm by a father and son has told a jury he was looked after by them.

Darrell Simester agreed Daniel Doran, 67, and son David Daniel Doran, 42, looked after him, under cross examination at Cardiff Crown Court.

When asked by a policeman whether he had been made to live at Cariad Farm he replied: "No, they just look after me".

The two men deny requiring him to perform forced or compulsory labour.

The trial has heard homeless Mr Simester, 44, was picked up on a dual carriageway by the Doran family and taken to Cariad Farm at Peterstone.

It is alleged he was "terrified," lived in a caravan and washed in a horse trough while working unpaid for 13 years.

Mr Simester, from Kidderminster, Worcestershire, had told the jury he carried on working the day after he fractured his hip.

'Left to rot'

Kevin Molloy, defending Daniel Doran, asked Mr Simester if he remembered a police officer taking him to one side on the day he left the farm.

He told the court Mr Simester denied anyone had threatened or assaulted him when it was put to him by police.

Mr Molloy said: "The officer said: 'Something isn't right , you're safe now, you can tell me what's going on. Have you been forced to live here?'

"You replied: 'No, they just look after me.'

"Was that because the Dorans did look after you?"

Mr Simester agreed: "Yep".

Daniel Doran, 67, and son David Daniel Doran both deny the charges

Mr Molloy questioned Mr Simester about him writing Christmas cards for the Dorans, who could not read or write, but not sending one to his own family.

He asked him: "You didn't think to send your parents a card too?"

Mr Simester replied: "No. I didn't know their address."

Mr Molloy asked: "When you asked the police to take you home, how could they when you didn't know their address?

"You didn't have your family phone number because you'd forgotten it?" Mr Simester replied: "Yes."

Mr Molloy asked: "And you didn't know where your family lived because you'd forgotten it?"

Mr Simester replied: "That's right."

Mr Molloy said: "I put it to you you're telling lies."

'Kettle'

Mr Molloy replied: "No."

The cross-examination included Mr Molloy asking Mr Simester about an interview he gave to the press after he was taken from Cariad Farm.

Mr Simester agreed with the proposition that Mr Doran's daughters, Kathleen and Ali, cooked for him and cleaned his clothes.

Mr Simester said: "It wasn't a case of the girls ignoring you. If I needed food or anything, Ali would be doing that on a regular basis.

Mr Molloy asked: "So she didn't neglect you? There was a kettle in the shed and you were free to make tea when you wanted?"

Mr Simester replied: "Yeah."

'Pressure'

Mr Molloy said: "The reporter suggests you were compelled to stay. Did you feel pressure to agree with him?"

Mr Molloy replied: "That's right, yeah."

The charges against the father and son cover a period between 2010 and 2013.

However, the court has heard Mr Simester had been missing for 13 years, living on the Dorans' farm.

When Mr Simester was eventually tracked down by his worried family in 2013 he was found living in a caravan, which had been described by a police officer as "left to rot" and "unfit for human habitation".

The trial continues.