Police investigate 'exhortion' at Sun Valley

Sun Valley Foods, the chief sponsors of Hereford United, are in the headlines because of an alledged Polish Mafia gang which is terrorising their local chicken factory that supplies McDonald's. According to the Sunday Mercury three men have been charged after one worker was abducted and others viciously beaten.

The missing man has since been located in Poland where he is said to have fled to escape intimidation and threats. Detectives are set to travel to his home country to interview him.

Police now believe a number of Polish nationals with suspected underworld connections have been extorting money from Polish workers at Sun Valley Foods for several years.

It's believed hundreds - perhaps thousands - of Polish migrants who have found jobs at the factory may have been intimidated into handing over their hard-earned cash.

Detectives are focusing their inquiries on the firm because the alleged victims and suspects have all been employed by the company at some time.

One current employee suspected of being involved with the gang was arrested at the factory's Hereford headquarters in December.

Sun Valley Foods last night confirmed it was aware of the attacks on a number of employees and was helping the police with their investigation.

The alleged protection racket only came to light in December after a series of brutal attacks left several victims fighting for life.

Sources say police officers were extremely concerned by the level of violence used. All the attacks are said to have been carried out in broad daylight in front of terrified onlookers. One man suffered a fractured skull after being bludgeoned with a baseball bat.

A source said: "The police are treating this as a very serious case. The violence seemingly used in some instances was horrific. The man who was seen being bundled into a car wasn't seen by anyone who knew him in Hereford again. But police have since located him in Poland - he's said to have been so terrified he jumped straight on a plane vowing never to come back to the UK again."

The police investigation is a blow to Sun Valley Foods, which employs nearly 3,000 people in Hereford and Wolverhampton and supplies more than 80 per cent of McDonald's chicken nuggets, as well as Morrisons, Sainsbury and the Co-op.

In January the company was the subject of negative publicity when a covertly filmed video emerged in which factory-farmed chickens destined for Sun Valley Food's plant were seen struggling to walk and enduring distressing and unnatural conditions.

The animal welfare group Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) shot the film at Uphampton Farm in Leominster, Herefordshire, which supplies meat to Sun Valley Foods. The chicken factory immediately announced an investigation into conditions at the farm. Hereford, which has a population of 15,000, is a classic market town, quiet, respectable and conservative - an unlikely place to be the hub of an international extortion racket.

But every year hundreds of immigrants arrive there looking for work at local farms and factories. A leaked Home Office memo, written in 2006, said authorities in parts of the UK were bracing themselves for an invasion of organised crime gangs with some using children as young as 10 to carry out thefts.

Much of the ill-gotten gains are being shipped back to the criminals' country of origin.

A spokeswoman for Sun Valley Foods said last night: "Sun Valley Europe takes the welfare and safety of all employees and temporary staff very seriously. We first became aware of this issue affecting workers and a number of employers in Hereford, including some of our temporary agency workers, in December 2007.

"Sun Valley has proactively and fully supported the local police with their ongoing investigation, which is currently subject to legal proceedings. Sun Valley itself is not under investigation."

A spokesman for West Mercia Police confirmed that three men aged between 19 and 28 have been charged with conspiracy to blackmail. They are due to enter pleas at Worcester Crown Court on April 14.

Police are investigating a number of other suspects.

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