07/10/2016 BBC Newsline

An illegal gangmaster who kept 15 people in what a judge described

as degrading and humiliating conditions has been

Ioan Lacatus pleaded guilty to six charges of human

His wife and her brother also admitted offences,

Our south-east reporter Gordon Adair was at Craigavon Crown Court.

Cristina Covaci leaves Craigavon court with a suspended sentence

for her part in the trafficking and exploitation of migrant workers,

but it was her husband Ioan Lacatus who was the driving force

by what the police said was an extraordinary

Lacatus who was known to be migrant workers only as The Minister

housed 15 people in this three-bedroom semi in Portadown.

They had only one shower, one toilet and very little to eat.

He also pocketed most of their wages.

15-20 people living in a house with about as much as toilet roll.

When some of them asked for food because they were hungry,

That is the mindset of these people involved in modern slavery

and they need to be taken before the courts.

Sentencing Lacatus, the judge said he was a greedy

and manipulative individual who had used his intimidating physical size

and threatening language to control vulnerable people.

He and his wife set up bank accounts into which they siphoned off over

most of the wages that should have been paid to be migrant workers.

Also the judge said there was a degree of sophistication

to the plan, but also an element of stupidity because he said Lacatus

could have made a good living if he had only treated

the workers with a degree of decency.

Instead he subjected them to degradation and humiliation.

The current occupants of this house in Charles Street are not

connected to the case, but most of the workers do remain

in Northern Ireland in better circumstances.

These are hard-working people who came over to Northern Ireland

legally to work and had a good work ethic.

It was expectation that caused them problems.

Thankfully due to the custodial sentences, the expectation has been

removed and they are now happily working.

Lacatus's brother-in-law pleaded guilty to conspiracy

to traffick within the UK, but he was given a conditional

discharge due to the amount of time he had spent on remand.

A Health Trust says staffing issues and an increase in the number

of referrals are among the reasons for almost 1000 people waiting

for urgent cardiology appointments in the South Eastern Health Trust

That compares to 300 people on the cardiac waiting list

in the largest Trust area, Belfast.

Earlier our health correspondent Marie-Louise Connolly described

They show that there is a really serious situation within

the South Eastern Health Trust at the moment for those men

and women who urgently require seeing a cardiologist.

They potentially could require treatment for heart disease,

At the moment in the South Eastern Health Trust there are almost 1000

men and women waiting on such an appointment.

Other Trusts appear to be coping a little better.

In Belfast, the largest of the Trusts, there

In the Northern Health Trust it is slightly over 100 people.

The South Eastern Health Trust told me that they have recently lost

two senior cardiologists who wished to relocate.

So far they have been unable to replace those posts, and that,

coupled with rising demand, has led to this quite shocking

A Dungannon woman who admitted making false statements about DUP

Assembly member Jim Wells has had her prison sentence reduced

to community service and a probation order.

49-year-old Dorothy Gardner was sentenced to three

months in jail last August after it was established

she wasn't at a hustings event where she alleged Mr Wells

Ms Gardner from Killycanavan Road made a public apology in court

A new law means anywhere that serves food - be it a takeaway,

a restaurant or a supermarket - will have to display

The Food Standards Agency scheme had previously been run on a voluntary

basis, but, as Ita Dungan reports, that's all set to change.

If you want to eat out in this part of East Belfast,

You can chose just about any cuisine -

Italian, Chinese, Mexican, Indian, fancy, not so fancy.

From today, you can get the food hygiene rating on every single

restaurant tour. For this restauranteur,

a 5-star rating is good It's all about confidence

for the customer and yourself. If it has five stars it gives me

the confidence to go in. If I say I wasn't feeling well

after going to your restaurant. If you have systems in place that

you know the temperature of the food when it came into the restaurant,

when it was cooked, how it was stored and you know when it

goes in the bain marie for service, you know the temperature

and how long it was there. Correct storage is just one thing

on the check list of Establishments now have a few weeks

to get their stickers up. From today the councils are issuing

the ratings and stickers and explaining to the businesses

where this has to be displayed. By the end of November that the vast

majority of businesses should be displaying their stickers

and if they are not, they will not Mandatory display is something these

locals are very happy with. It is something that has always

played on your mind. You don't like turning up anywhere

that is either obscuring them We would have looked

at the takeaways, or somewhere like there is a five,

I would have checked beforehand With less than 50% of restaurants

displaying their scores, get ready to see a lot more gold

stars gracing our windows and doors. And there is disappointment

for Ulster rugby fans this evening after the Pro12 leaders

surrendered their 100% record as champions to Connacht

in Galway this evening. Ulster lost their unbeaten Pro12

record in a pulsating 80 minutes at the sports ground. The defending

champions got off to a flying start when Jack Carty went under the post

to score the opening try. After a Paddy Jackson penalty Cian Kelleher

scored wide on the left to give the hosts a 12-3 lead. Before James

Connolly crashed over to extant their advantage. With Ulster against

it, Craig Gilroy's try late in the half gave them a lifeline. After the

break the visitors came out like a new team. First Ireland captain Rory

Best bundled over before Tommy Bowe broke through the Connacht defence

to release Jared Payne and the sides were level. The contest turned

again. Cian Kelleher's second try of the game was followed by a Jack

Carty penalty. Comet held on for a significant 36-25 win. Ulster can

bounce back when they begin their European Champions Cup campaign away

to Bordeaux on Sunday week. And in football, we have one

result this evening. Crusaders played Livingston

in the Scottish Challenge Cup at Seaview, and the result

was Crusaders 1-2 Livingston. Now finally here's Angie

with the weekend weather forecast. It turned out quite wet across some

parts of the North and East today. Showers became aligned

to the wind flow. But it's not a sign that things

are breaking down. And with a ridge of high pressure

still the main feature Variable cloud, so some bright

and sunny spells, and the winds later than they have been

on recent days as well. So, that breeze continues to ease

down through tonight. Apart from the odd shower,

a lot of dry weather. Some clear spells,

and where they linger, parts of the countryside could dip

down to eight Celsius, but I think most of the towns

and beneath any cloud Variable cloud as we go

into tomorrow. Hopefully more brightness

than we had today in places, and we are looking at a lot of dry

weather, although we could just see the odd light shower starting to pop

up as we head towards the afternoon. Across the rest of Ireland

and Britain, still a few showers in places, mainly

towards the West Coast of Ireland. A few drifting in towards

the South East and the south One or two moving

into central England. But generally we are looking

at a lot of dry weather, apart from those, and some sunshine,

lifting temperatures to around 18 Bear in mind in the sunshine,

that will feel fairly But the best sunshine really

reserved out towards the West, Wales, northern England,

West of Scotland and So, hopefully bright enough come

the afternoon for Northern Ireland, with highs of 15 Celsius,

and just the odd sharp Then as we head into Sunday,

it's a mainly dry story. After a cloudy start,

I think it will brighten Our next BBC Newsline

is at 5:45pm tomorrow evening. You can also keep updated

with News Online. From all of us here,

good night and have a