UK Court convicts wife, lover of slavery for maltreating disabled husband
A UK court has convicted a 49-year-old woman and her lover of slavery for the inhumane treatment meted out to her disabled husband.
Reports said that Tom, who has cerebral palsy and is partially blind, was kept barely alive at his home in Chichester, West Sussex while his wife, Sarah, 49, and her lover George Webb, 50, treated him ‘like a piece of property’.
Tom’s sister, Holby City actress, Kate Somerset-Holmes, and mother, Helen Somerset-How, spoke of the horror they met upon bursting into the home Tom shared with his wife. According to them, they found Tom ‘disorientated’ and ‘very, very thin’ at 6 stones 10 lbs.
Prosecutors said Somerset-How and Webb treated the 40-year-old – who needs 24-hour care – as a ‘cash cow.’ They spent his benefit payments on buying themselves lingerie and DJ equipment.
Tom, who is a graduate of ‘intelligent’ history, was fed crisps and allowed one shower a week.
He was finally saved in a rescue operation by family, police, and social services that was said to ‘have the marks of extracting someone as a hostage’.
