Two charged with slavery offences

Two people from St Albans have been charged with offences connected to slavery following advice from Thames and Chiltern Crown Prosecution Service. It follows a warrant executed at an address in St Albans on the morning of March 11, 2015, by officers from the Operation Scorpion unit, Intervention, Safer Neighbourhood Team and the Local Crime Unit following reports around potential human trafficking taking place on the premises. Twenty-five-year-old Johnny Murphy and 22-year-old Shanon Loveridge, who are both from Watford Road, are both charged with knowingly holding a person in slavery or servitude and knowingly require another person to perform forced labour in St Albans between April 2010 and September 2014. They have been released on bail to appear before St Albans Magistrates Court on Tuesday October 27, 2015 at 9am. A 62-year-old woman has been released without charge.