A man has been rescued from a six-foot shed where it is believed he has been held for the last 40 years. It is suspected that he was locked into the tiny room when he was just 18 years old in 1978. When he was discovered he was said to have looked like a ‘rabbit in the headlights’ because he was so startled to be freed.
Pictures from the scene show a filthy blanket on the floor next to a flat-screen TV and a garden chair. There is also a piece of raggedy old carpet and an electric heater that doesn’t work inside the green shed.
The man, who is now 58, is being cared for by officials from the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority who acted on a tip-off. He is being looked after by specialist trauma officers who are carrying out medical examinations and assessing his mental health. The man was found at a residential site near Carlisle, Cumbria, in a dawn raid yesterday morning.