Wife and carer jailed for slavery after disabled man confined to a room in Sussex for 4 years
ITV News Meridian reporter Rachel Hepworth has been speaking to Tom Somerset-How about his ordeal
A woman from Sussex who kept her disabled husband in squalor after having an affair with his live-in carer has been jailed for 11 years.
Tom Somerset-How, who has cerebral palsy and needs round-the-clock care, weighed less than seven stone when he was rescued from his home in Chichester.
Sarah Somerset-How, 49, and her husband's live-in carer, George Webb, 40, were found guilty of holding him in slavery and three counts of ill-treatment by a care worker between 2016 and 2020 following a trial at Portsmouth Crown Court.
Webb, whose temper was described by the victim as a "nuclear bomb anger", was also convicted of causing actual bodily harm while both defendants were found not guilty of fraud by false representation and theft.
Their conviction for enslaving Mr Somerset-How was the first ever case of its kind.
Unable to move for himself, Tom had spent four years confined to a single room with the blinds drawn.
Bodycam footage released by police shows the conditions Tom was living in
A message from Sarah Somerset-How to George Webb read: "Remember, we are just using him... he gets paid soon so I will take money out of his account for weed."
Mr Somerset-How said: "To drain me, not just financially, but just to break me down to nothing, and to leave me behind.
"The fact that between them they were being so blatant when I was in the environment, is just stunning."
The trial heard that the pair's treatment of Mr Somerset-How was uncovered by a friend as well as by the victim's sister Kate Somerset-Holmes, an actress who has appeared in Silent Witness and Holby City.
The unusual charge was brought because it was more than neglect as prosecutors felt Mr Somerset-How was being used as a financial resource and effectively enslaved.
Sentencing the defendants, Judge William Ashworth praised Mr Somerset-How for his "courage" and said: "I find as fact of which I am sure that Tom Somerset-How was held in slavery for at least two years and eight months, kept in bed, deprived of adequate food or water, kept away from his family with the curtains drawn, frequently in his own urine and excrement, unwashed and unkempt."
"...Over the next four years, Somerset-How's husband was physically and psychologically abused, left without sufficient food and drink and forced to live in squalid conditions.
"He was separated from his family, who reported the situation to the police in August 2020, after he revealed the horrific circumstances in which he was living."
DC Cheyne Garrett, the Lead Investigator for Sussex Police Police said: "His money that he got from his benefits, various loans were used.
"He wasn't able to move without Sarah and George and they then used the money that he was earning and the money was getting for looking after him for themselves.
"That was the difference. He was treated like a piece of property and his money was used and squandered."
It's estimated one in 10 disabled people experiences some sort of domestic abuse, often in similar circumstances.
Claire Lambon, CEO of Stop Domestic Abuse, says they have seen several occasions where carers are taking the disability money given to help the person in need.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this report, you can access help via the charities listed below: