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Four years in jail for human trafficking and modern slavery offences (23 February 2016)

Date: 23/02/2016
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, Four years in jail for human trafficking and modern slavery offences

Hereford Crown Court has sentenced a man who pleaded guilty to human trafficking offences to four years in prison.

In November 2014, 39-year-old Ramunas Vaznys recruited two of his victims in Lithuania, promising them well paid employment and good accommodation in the UK. In return for this, he said he would charge them a fee of £20 per week and repayment of their transportation costs.

When his victims arrived in the UK, neither the guaranteed work nor the comfortable accommodation existed – they stayed in a cramped and crowded caravan and were required to pay Vaznys, regardless of whether they had work or not.

The site had little access to transport, except that provided by Vaznys and for which his victims also had to pay.

The victims were then told by Vaznys they had to pay him £100 per week for six months – and then take out a bank loan of for between £2,000 and £3,000 “until they were free”.

The victims could not speak English and were entirely dependent upon Vaznys for food and accommodation – the court heard that their debt to him accumulated on a daily basis.

In January 2015, Vaznys brought two further victims from Lithuania to the UK and repeated the scam.

Of the four victims whom Vaznys trafficked into the UK intending to exploit, those who found employment had their wages paid into bank accounts which Vaznys helped to set up.

Vaznys also confiscated the victims’ bankcards when they arrived – and then made a series of withdrawals from his victims’ accounts.

If challenged, Vaznys threatened his victims – and on one occasion, he physically beat one of the complainants. When beatings proved insufficient to stop them complaining, Vaznys put several of them on a bus back to Lithuania.

In March 2015, West Mercia Police received a tip off about an illegal recruitment agency. The police arrested Vaznys – who had by then moved to Ipswich.

Vaznys pleaded guilty to trafficking each of his four victims with a view to exploiting them, as well as keeping two of them in servitude and requiring a third to perform forced or compulsory labour.

Vaznys was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment – and was also issued with a Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Order with extraterritorial jurisdiction, which prohibits him from visiting the Lithuanian town from which he recruited his victims. The judge also recommended his deportation.

Neil Fielding, Specialist Prosecutor from the West Midlands Crown
Prosecution Service's Complex Casework Unit said:

“Human trafficking and modern day slavery has no place in our society –
and the Crown Prosecution Service is working with our partner agencies as well as community groups to tackle this insidious criminal activity.

“Ramunas Vaznys sought to exploit his victims' vulnerable position – isolated as they were by location and language in a foreign and unfamiliar environment – for his own personal gain.

“He made false promises to entice his victims to travel from Lithuania to the UK – once they arrived, he would get them to hand over most of their weekly wages, as well as trying to get them to take out large bank loans to pay for his made up fees and expenses.

“We hope that this conviction sends out a strong and clear message to anyone who is considering exploiting foreign workers in the UK that such actions are illegal – and once caught, you will be prosecuted robustly.

“We are grateful to the victims for the trust they placed in the police and CPS and for being prepared to return to the UK to give evidence in support of this prosecution.”

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