THERE have been called for a sentence handed down to a man who employed a group of Romanians who were found sleeping in an outbuilding made out of bare breeze blocks with no heating and only limited electricity to be increased.
Gheorge Ionas (35), from Albert Avenue in Lurgan, Co Armagh, received a £500 fine at Craigavon magistrates' court after he pleaded guilty to operating as a gangmaster - a labour provider - without a licence.
The maximum sentence under the Gangmasters Licensing Act for working as an illegal gangmaster is 10 years imprisonment.
The Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) - which licenses the supply of temporary labour - described the punishment as "shocking".
The court heard that when officers from the GLA visited Ioans' home in October 2013, they found three Romanian men sleeping in an outbuilding made out of bare breeze blocks, which had no heating and only limited electricity.
Environmental health officers from Craigavon Borough Council later declared the building "unfit for human habitation".
It was found that the men were employed as apple pickers in Co Armagh, being paid £100 per week, which is below the minimum wage.
It was heard that at one stage up to five men were living in the building while it was further alleged that at least one of the men had foraged in supermarket bins for out-of-date food.
The court heard that Ionas took money from the men for food, transport and accommodation before he paid them.
Ionas was fined £500 and ordered to pay £46 court costs and a £15 offenders levy.
Paul Broadbent, chief executive of GLA, said he hoped the sentence, which had left him "appalled," would be appealed.
"I will be writing to the public prosecutor for Northern Ireland to seek leave to appeal this derisory sentence and express my utter dismay that slavery - for that is what this was - is seemingly not recognised in the court where this defendant appeared," he said.
"I simply fail to see how this punishment fits the crime and is in any way a deterrent for someone who preyed on vulnerable men."
Mr Broadbent added: "At a time when the proposed Human Trafficking and Exploitation Bill in Northern Ireland stipulates a minimum sentence of two years for 'trafficking' offences, and the very offence that was admitted under the Gangmasters Licensing Act carries a maximum of 10 years, this case must surely be reconsidered."
Dr Aidan McQuade, from the Anti-Slavery League, also criticised the sentence.
"I really don't see what sort of message that sends out to the rest of the world or what sort of attitude that displays towards the people who were kept in such appalling circumstances."
"It is difficult to see what must have been going through his mind to presume that such a discount on the penalty would have been acceptable."