A SLAVE boss who forced two 'vulnerable' men to build him a pub at an Oxford travellers site will pay back just £5,800 to his victims.

A court judge yesterday ruled that Michael Joyce had pocketed some £60,000 by forcing the men to work for nothing and to repeatedly hand over their own money to him.

But because of the 61-year-old's 'available assets' - cash which was seized by police in a raid at the Redbridge Hollow site - Joyce will pay back just £5,837.48 of his ill-gotten gains.

That money was subject to a proceeds of crime hearing at Oxford Crown Court yesterday where it was claimed the cash was to 'maintain a family gravestone' and set aside for a trip to Scotland.

Last year, Joyce was convicted by a jury at the same court of modern slavery charges and he was jailed for five years.

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He had forced the two men to work for nothing during an 18-month period at Redbridge Hollow, where Joyce lived, between April 1, 2016 and January 30, 2018.

At his sentencing in August, presiding Judge Ian Pringle QC said that Joyce had put a 'vice-like grip' on his victims.

He said: "You acted as a bully and cajoled and forced them to giving you free labour.

"It was undoubtedly forced, compulsory labour that you expected from them."

During the trial jurors were told how as part of the slavery the men, described as 'vulnerable' and having been 'groomed' by Joyce, were made to work on a pub at the Redbridge Hollow site.

That pub, known as 'The Dons Bar' was described by Joyce as nothing more than a 'man cave'.

He claimed that it was built to provide a place for family celebrations such as birthdays, Halloween, and Christmas gatherings and said it was not a functioning pub.

He added that he had been 'pleased' with the final construction which included a jukebox, one functioning beer pump, and an old cigarette machine.

In fact, jurors found that the victims in the case - Paul West and Paul Gilding - were subjected to 'implicit threats' and Gilding was even struck by Joyce.

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Speaking of his ordeal Mr West said he was 'petrified' of Joyce and that his life with the family 'was hell'.

He said: "I used to cry myself to sleep. My life was not in a good place.

“It was just a constant battle with every aspect of my day-to-day life."

At the same court yesterday a court judge had to decide how much money Joyce had made from his crimes and how much he could pay back.

Representing Joyce at the day-long hearing, defence barrister Vida Simpeh said that not all of the cash which was seized in the raid had belonged to Joyce.

One of Joyce's sons, Timothy, went to the witness box to claim that almost £2,000 of that money was his and had been stashed away by another family member to pay for a trip to Scotland and for a 60th birthday present for Joyce.

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Further cash found in a Coca-Cola tin was also there for the 'upkeep' of a family gravestone, the court heard.

Outlining the Crown Prosecution Service's calculations on the money prosecutor Kim Preston said that the total benefit from modern slavery was £60,015.48.

From the witness box Thames Valley Police officer Jack Millard confirmed this was divided into the amounts each of the victims had worked for nothing, with Mr Gilding working a total representing £11,658, and Mr West £5,896.

He said that withdrawals from bank accounts from both of the men had also been tallied, and represented £6,389 for Mr Gilding and £16,110 for Mr West.

A further £14,125 was factored into the final count, from rent payments made to a caravan at the site, as well as the total cash that was seized by police of £5,837.48.

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Deciding the issue, presiding Judge Peter Ross said the claim some of the seized cash was not Joyce's was 'stretching the bounds of credibility far too much.'

He ruled that Joyce had benefited from the modern slavery to a total of £60,015.48 and he ordered that £5,837.48 of his assets should be confiscated.

That money will be divided between the victims of the modern slavery as compensation, and Mr West will receive £3,210.62, Mr Gilding £2,218.24 and his partner £408.62.

Joyce - who was also ordered to pay a statutory victim surcharge - gave a thumbs up to his family sat in the public gallery as he was led out by prison officers.