Shopowner denies 'slave' claims

Liaquat Haq denies 28 charges

A south Wales shopkeeper has denied accusations that he kept a woman like a "medieval slave".

Liaquat Haq, 36, told a jury at Newport Crown Court that he paid her to work for him.

Mr Haq, of Mountain Ash, and his girlfriend, Sharon Skitt, 30, of Aberdare, deny 28 charges in relation to two women.

He allegedly made the woman work 14-hour days for him without payment.

You have not got any proof and you're just trying to pin it on me Defendant Liaquat Haq to Mark Evans QC, prosecuting

He also denies carrying out sexual assaults on the woman in the shower, and forcing her to act like a dog, barking and eating food off the floor.

But Mr Haq told the court on Wednesday that he had not ill-treated the woman.

He told the jury: "Everything she says is wrong."

Mr Haq denied ever hitting the woman and forcing her to run away. He said: "I have never beaten her up."

Sharon Skitt has pleaded not guilty

Mark Evans QC, prosecuting, suggested to Haq that the reason the girl fled for safety was because she was being abused.

Mr Haq said: "No - you are very wrong."

He told Mr Evans: "You have got nothing on me really. I don't think I'm having a fair trial.

"You have not got any proof and you're just trying to pin it on me."

Mr Haq denied forcing the one of the women to work for him without paying them, saying he always paid for work carried out.

He said: "I paid her - sometimes it could be £200, sometimes it could be £400."

The prosecution has alleged Mr Haq and Ms Skitt kept two women in slavery and committed serious sexual and physical assaults on both.

The trial continues.