The former owner of a Highland hotel who was jailed for human trafficking has failed to have his conviction overturned.
Shamsul Arefin was sentenced to three years in jail after being convicted of mistreating four workers from Bangladesh in what was described as a “clear case of modern day slavery”.
Last July he was found guilty of the offences which occurred while he was the owner of the Stewart Hotel near Appin in Argyll.
Arefin recruited the men from his native Bangladesh, offering them jobs as chefs.
The men were forced to pay him £18,000 in return for the employment which, at the trial at Fort William Sheriff Court, Arefin described as a “deposit” to be returned if they remained in his employment for five years.
On arrival their salaries were reduced and workload increased. The deposit was never returned.
Arefin appealed his conviction and sentence and claimed that the sheriff at his trial had misdirected the jury on corroboration.
Appeal judges Lord Carloway, Lord Menzies and Lady Cosgrove rejected his legal team’s arguments.
At the appeal it emerged that Arefin had two previous convictions for sexually assaulting hotel workers he had hired from abroad.
In a written ruling, Lord Carloway said: “The offences here were callous, deliberate and planned for the purposes of gain. As a result, considerable hardship was suffered by the complainers and no doubt their families.
“It is not without significance that the appellant’s previous convictions include, not only an assault upon his wife from 2007, but two sexual assaults upon hotel employees, who had come from abroad, in 2013.
“Only a custodial sentence could have been regarded as appropriate.”
Arefin, 47, carried out the offences between 2008 and 2010.
Kevin Hyland, the Independent Anti Slavery Commissioner, said: “This is a clear case of modern day slavery.”
