An anti-slavery enforcement authority has slammed a Northern Ireland court ruling that sentenced a criminal gangmaster to a mere £500 (US$810) fine for the cruel and illegal treatment of migrant fruit pickers.

GLA chief executive Paul Broadbent.

Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) chief executive Paul Broadbent has hit out against the 'derisory' punishment of 35-year-old Gheorghe Ionas by Craigavon Magistrates’ Court.

He had hired Romanian apple pickers to work on orchards in County Armagh in Northern Ireland, paying them around £100 (US$162) a week - which is less than the minimum wage - and charging them for transport while forcing them to live in an outhouse building made of breeze blocks with no heating and limited electricity.

The workers were treated so badly they were forced to scavenge in the rubbish bins of local supermarkets to find out-of-date food.

"I simply fail to see how this punishment fits the crime and is in any way a deterrent for someone who preyed on vulnerable men," said Broadbent following the court case.

"I will be writing to the Publish Prosecutor for Northern Ireland to seek leave to appeal this derisory sentence and express my utter dismay that slavery, for that is what this was, is seemingly not recognised in the court where this defendant appeared.

"At a time when the proposed Human Trafficking and Exploitation Bill in Northern Ireland stipulates a minimum sentence of two years for 'trafficking' offences, and the very offence that was admitted under the Gangmaster Licensing Act carries a maximum of 10 years, this case must be reconsidered."

The court heard how GLA officers and the police searched the home of Ionas in October last year, where they discovered three Romanian men sleeping in the outhouse building.

After they were safely removed the building was inspected by the local council and declared 'unfit for human habitation'.

Officers on the operation were told that as many as five men had been living in the outbuilding at the time.

Ionas pleaded guilty to a single charge of acting as a gangmaster without a licence. He was also ordered to pay £46 (US$75) for court costs and a £15 (US$24) offender's levy.

The GLA says that such was the level of exploitation that the three men were classified as potential victims of trafficking. They have since returned to Romania.

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