A man who ran a Norwich garage has been jailed for seven years after admitting acting as an illegal gangmaster who a judge described acted as 'the principal person in the economic exploitation of migrant workers'.

Audrius Morkunas, 40, operated around Norfolk using a garage he ran in Duke Street, in Norwich, as a base. He placed a large number of Lithuanian workers into substandard accommodation, charged them for finding work and for rent.

When police raided the garage run by Morkunas they seized a number of paper and documents including the passports and ID cards of some of his workers.

He appeared for sentence yesterday after admitting acting as a gang master without a licence, which is the first time an illegal gang master has been brought to justice under new regulations.

Morkunas, of Grove Road, Melton Constable, also admitted possession of an article for use in fraud, and money laundering.

In addition he was also found guilty, following a trial, of causing actual bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon.

It followed an incident on May 7 2012 where he and three 'henchmen', some of whom had weapons, carried out a 'targeted attack' on an economic migrant who was not paying his way and getting into debt.

The court heard that Morkunas exploited a 'significant' number of people with at least 250 people involved amounting to an income of at least £100,000.

Sentencing Morkunas to a total of seven years in prison Judge Nicholas Coleman said: 'The defendant was the principle person in the economic exploitation of migrant workers. The prosecution case is that this was a commercially exploitative operation which went on for some years. I accept that proposition. If the workers did not comply he would use force. When workers come to this country to better themselves they do not expect to find themselves exploited, still less by their fellow countrymen. Many workers were trapped, slaves in an alien environment.'

Norwich Crown Court had previously heard that Morkunas put Lithuanian workers into jobs in agriculture and at food processing factories around Norfolk and had a number of workers living in rented accommodation, in Melton Constable.

Morkunas claimed that he only helped fellow countrymen to get established by helping them get work and accommodation and had not acted as an illegal gang master.

Roger Harrison, for Morkunas, said that he was a man of good character and said there was 'no evidence that any of these migrants suffered any harm'.

Appearing alongside Morkunas yesterday was co-defendant Kestutis Petravicius, 37, of Darrell Place, Norwich, who had previously pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm following the incident at Cranwich Food Factory in May 2012.

John Lamb, representing Petravicius, pleaded guilty and played a 'subordinate'role.

Eridas Daugintis, 37, from Wortham Close in the Clover Hill area of Norwich, had also previously pleaded guilty to assault but did not appear and was dealt with in his absence.

Jonathan Goodman, representing, said he was 'not the driving force' in this incident.

Sentencing Petravicius to eight months in custody and Daugintis to six months in custody respectively, Judge Coleman said the events at the factory were a 'manifestation of Morkunas's modus operandi, the use of force to enforce a debt' adding it was 'organised thuggery'.

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