MEMBERS of the travelling community staged a lively protest after four members of the same family were jailed for 27 years for their parts in treating two vulnerable men as 'slaves'.

About 100 people, from very young children to elderly people, picketed outside Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday against the sentences handed to the Connors family last week.

Patrick Joseph Connors, 59, and his 39-year-old son Patrick Dean Connors, 39, both of Greenway Road, Rumney, Cardiff, as well as William Connors, 36, of Trowbridge Green, Cardiff and Lee Christopher Carbis, 34, of Witla Court Road, Rumney, were all jailed last week.

Protesters occupied the court steps, waving placards and banners with accusations of racism, chanting and singing.

Libby Connors, who is the daughter, sister, cousin and sister-in-law of the four men convicted, said today's protest would be the first of several.

She said: "We are having this protest, along with more to follow solely for the injustice served against my family."

Claiming the verdicts and sentences passed against her family made "a mockery" of the justice system, she said: "We believe they were tried on their name and culture, ignoring the evidence and facts of the case which proved their innocence beyond all reasonable doubt.

"The travelling and local community are standing united in our fight for justice."

She added she believed the justice system had "failed miserably".

"We will not stop fighting until we get the justice my family deserves," she said.

Officers were at the scene and a South Wales Police spokesman said the protest had passed peacefully without any arrests.

The three Connors were found guilty of requiring another to perform forced labour from April 2010 to January 2013.

Patrick Joseph Connors, the head of the family, was also convicted of eight counts of actual bodily harm, four of kidnapping and one of conspiracy to kidnap while. His son was found guilty of one count of kidnapping.

Carbis was cleared of the forced labour charge but convicted of kidnapping.

The forced labour charge related to Michael Hughes, a 46-year-old man originally from Scotland who came to Wales to find work when he was 18 years old. He said he was treated like a “slave” for more than 20 years.

The charges also relate to a second victim, Mr K, aged 41, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

More than 700 people have signed a petition calling for the family's release.