Inside squalid bungalow where intelligent disabled man was held as a slave and used as a ‘cash cow’ by his wife and his carer who she had an affair with – as pair face jail
- Tom Somerset-How was rescued after being abused by his wife and carer
- Police today released body camera footage revealing the shocking scenes
This is the moment police raided the house where modern slavery victim Tom Somserset-How was exploited by his wife and his carer.
Over the course of four weeks, a jury at Portsmouth Crown Court listened diligently to a tragic tale of modern-day slavery involving an intelligent and disabled man, exploited by his wife and lover for cash. Today, a judge will sentence them for leaving the victim to live ‘like a dog’.
Tom Somerset-How, 40, was mistreated by his wife, Sarah, 49, and his carer George Webb, 50, – who embarked on an illicit affair.
They were remanded in custody following their convictions in May.
The court heard that Mr Somerset-How, who has cerebral palsy and is partially blind, was reliant on his wife and his carer who had betrayed him, leaving him at his home in Chichester, West Sussex and using his benefits payments to finance DJ equipment, lingerie and weekends away to see Take That concerts or Manchester United games.
This is the moment police raided the house where modern slavery victim Tom Somserset-How was exploited by his wife and his carer
Tom Somerset-How, pictured arriving at Portsmouth Crown Court ahead of the sentencing of his wife, Sarah, and his carer George Webb
Tom was supported by his sister, actress Kate Somerset Holmes, left, and their mother Helen, right
Tom, pictured, was the victim in an unprecedented human slavery case involving his wife and his carer
Webb, who has a tattoo of murderous gangsters Ronald and Reginald Kray on his neck, tried to insist he ‘was not a wrong-un’, but the jury, after 12 hours’ deliberation disagreed.
Mr Somerset-How was raised by his parents, John and Helen. Mrs Somerset-How was awarded an MBE for her charity work. His twin sister Kate – who appears on Holby City, and his older brother Ben – cheered from the public gallery when the jury returned with two guilty verdicts.
In 2018, the history graduate was found ‘disorientated’ and ‘very, very thin’, by his sister. Nobody in the family had seen him in two years, but it was a further two years before his ordeal was brought to an end.
Tom Somerset-How was found ‘disorientated’ and ‘very, very thin’ at 6st 10lbs (43kg). These images were shown to the jury
A photo of Tom and his wife Sarah back in 2012, practicing their wedding vows
Tom and his wife moved into a purpose-built bungalow in Chichester in 2010 and were given 24-hour care provided by social services during the week. In 2016, Webb was nominated as Tom’s carer.
The contract for Tom’s care moved from the local authority to a private care service worth £4,000-a-month. Tom, his wife and Webb were living in his house, but the court heard that instead of taking care of his needs, he was left in bed 90 per cent of the time and spent an entire year without brushing his teeth.
READ MORE: How Tom Somerset-How was rescued from slavery
An image from 2018 shows Tom in bed, unshaven, with long hair, and without his glasses
His wife and Webb and tried to ‘ostracise’ him from his family, so they could continue cashing in his benefits. Details of their fraud were documented in messages between the pair which were used in evidence against them in court.
The jury were told that Tom could overhear his wife and Webb having sex. When he confronted them over text message, they claimed they had been ‘discussing’ his care arrangements.
In 2018, their scam was uncovered after Tom’s mother and sister visited his home and found the distressing scenes.
In 2020, Tom alerted a friend to his plight who then passed on the message to his parents, prompting a final intervention, which involved police and social services and was described in court as ‘an operation that had the marks of extracting someone as a hostage’.
After a four-week trial at Portsmouth Crown Court, jurors deliberated for a little more than 12 hours before finding Webb and Somerset-How guilty of holding a person in slavery or servitude.
Webb was also convicted of ill-treatment by a care worker while Somerset-How, an executive assistant who has worked for accountancy firm KPMG and lawyers Irwin Mitchell, has been convicted of aiding and abetting him from 2018 to 2020.
However, both were cleared of charges pertaining to alleged ill treatment before 2017. Webb was found guilty of ABH after an incident where he hit Tom with a shoe.
The verdict comes as horrific photos reveal the filthy conditions Tom was forced to live in before he was discovered.
Somerset-How was found not guilty of fraud and theft over allegations she had ‘plundered’ £12,000 of her husband’s inheritance.
Watching from the public gallery, Tom’s family cheered with each guilty verdict, while he was overcome with emotion. He was joined by his parents, John and Helen, his twin sister Kate, his older brother Ben and a family friend to support him.
There was no reaction from Somerset-How, wearing a leopard print dress, and Webb, who wore an Adidas tracksuit, as the verdicts were delivered – with both slumped in their chairs.
Sarah Somerset-How, 49, and her lover George Webb, 50, kept Tom Somerset-How, 40, barely alive at his home in Chichester, West Sussex
One photo shows the 40-year-old’s hand hanging off his bed with long, uncut nails
Giving evidence, Tom told the court Webb was a ‘really good carer’ at first and there were ‘absolutely no issues’, but within a year things quickly declined
West End, Silent Witness and Holby City actress Kate Somerset-Holmes told the court how she was forced to ‘ambush’ the couple at the house to gain access to her twin brother
After the verdicts were delivered, Tom said: ‘I am very pleased with the verdict. Justice has been served.
‘I would like to thank my lawyers, witness care, CPS, and the police officers who have been particularly diligent in preparing all the evidence to bring this case to light.
‘I would also like to thank my family for their ongoing support through this very difficult period.’
According to prosecutors, the slavery case is the first of its kind, as the charge usually applies to victims who have been trafficked from abroad or forced to work for no pay.
In this case, prosecutors argued that by being cut off from his family and by using his financial resources, the neglect was so bad Tom was in effect being treated like a slave at his home in Chichester, West Sussex.
Webb showing off his tattoo of the Kray twins, which is on the right side of his neck
Tom’s sister took a photo of his dusty bedside lamp and dirty living room table, which was littered with football mugs, a full ashtray and a grinder
Other photos showed piles of dirty clothes on top of Tom’s folded up wheelchair
Tom is now living in residential accommodation after being taken away from his abusers
How case is the first modern slavery prosecution of its kind in Britain
The Somerset-How case is the first modern slavery case of its kind to be brought in Britain, prosecutors said.
Usually, slavery charges are brought in cases where the victim has been trafficked from abroad or forced to work for no pay. But neither of those circumstances applied to Tom Somerset-How.
Instead, in what they say is a landmark case, prosecutors argued during the trial that by being cut off from his family and having his money taken from him, he was in effect being treated like a slave.
And the judge agreed, declaring in legal argument that there was ‘ample evidence’ his wife Sarah and carer George Webb had held him ‘as if he was a cattle or animal’.
Half way through the trial, the couple’s lawyers had attempted to have the slavery charges dismissed, arguing there was no evidence Mr Somerset How was being treated as a ‘possession’.
Rejecting this argument, Paul Cavin KC, prosecuting, said: ‘This statute was drafted broadly and for good reason, because in the past they had very narrow definitions. The Crown say that both slavery and servitude can be made here.
‘It is servitude by coercion by keeping him in a position where he was providing a service. He was allowing them to live off him. By keeping him alive he provided them with a roof over their head.
‘It is the use of him and effective imprisonment of him, keeping him away from his family, that allowed them to use his benefits. That is why this applies to both slavery and servitude.
‘If there was no benefit to the defendants and they decided to have an affair and keep the partner in a room and he was disabled that would be slavery because it is a complete denial of autonomy. If they hadn’t enslaved him, he would have dismissed Webb and maybe divorced his wife.
‘This is a man who had all his autonomy taken away from him. Total ownership had been taken over him in a way that a master does over a dog when he puts him in the kitchen.’
Attempting to have the charge dropped, Robert Bryan, George Webb’s defence barrister, said: ‘Slavery can’t just involve exploitation, it must be exploitation plus.
‘There is no evidence from which an inference can be drawn that Tom was Mrs Somerset-How or Webb’s possession. The essence of slavery is treating someone like an animal or object.’
But Judge William Ashworth interjected, saying: ‘Tom is saying his autonomy to see his family was removed from him. Would that not be evidence of exercising power over him?’
‘Tom was not held in slavery,’ Mr Bryan replied. ‘It can’t be, because it can’t just be exploitation, it has to be ownership. He was not owned by these defendants. He was not possessed by these two.’
Judge Ashworth then asked: ‘If Tom was held because he provided the defendants with pay and both had access to his money, would they not be holding him there for their benefit?’
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