Six month hostage claim doesn't look so unlikely anymore...

Back in 2010 Blood and Property reported a case of a 67-year-old man claiming to have been held hostage in his flat for six months.

At the time the allegation appeared highly unlikely.

Whether or not the claim was ever true it doesn't sound so extraordinary after these cases:
a) September 2011 police raided a traveller site in Leighton Buzzard leading to a case described in court as the first ‘quasi-slavery trial in this country for over 200 years'.
b) November 2013 three women believed to have been held as slaves for 30 years.
c) January 2014 Sheffield family jailed over slave beatings 

The 2010 allegations in Hackney were thought to be a case of visitors refusing to leave a man's flat. The police charged the suspects for burglary, not for holding a man hostage but a statement from Hackney Police said: "The victim has been spoken to and does not wish the suspect to be arrested. A first instance harassment warning has been issued and if the suspect re-attends the address, then he may be arrested for harassment."