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Two jailed over Hungarians trafficked to UK to work as slaves (16 May 2014)

Date: 16/05/2014
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, Two jailed over Hungarians trafficked to UK to work as slaves

A judge at Teesside Crown Court has jailed two men who preyed on vulnerable individuals from Hungaria and lured them to the UK with promises of work, only to treat them as modern-day slaves.

Janos Orsos, 43, and Ferenc Illes, 25, paid their workers just £10 for an 100-hour working week – and accommodated them in cramped housing across the Midlands and north of England, including sites at Ravensthorpe, Heckmondwike and Bradford.

In Batley, West Yorkshire up to 50 men shared a house and received regular beatings from Orsos and Illes, the court heard. The house rule was that no-one could say “no” to their slave masters.

The men recruited Hungarians to work in the UK with promises of well-paid factory and labouring work, with accommodation provided.

Orsos was the main recruiter and gangmaster, the court heard and often inflicted beatings on the men he enslaved in Britain if he felt they had disobeyed him.

The workers were sent to businesses in Dewsbury, Bradford and Wakefield, the Daily Mail reports.

Many of those brought to the UK as slave labour were too frightened to escape. A woman who worked for Orson and Illes said she feared for her life after she overheard Orsos saying that she would be killed.

A 45-year-old woman brought to the UK from Hungary to work as a slave to Orsos and Illes was kept prisoner and forced to do housework for no pay at all.

The woman was only fed once a day while being held captive and was not given any clothes. She eventually managed to escape after she was allowed greater freedom. The court heard that she fled by train to another town.

After hearing details of the terror both men inflicted on their victims, Judge Peter Armstrong sentenced Orsos to five years in jail.

The court heard that Illes acted Orsos’s “right-hand man” – he was given a three-year prison sentence.

Both men pleaded guilty to people trafficking offences at the hearing on Tuesday (13/05/14). They admitted to charges of conspiracy to traffic people within the UK for exploitation, which dated back to 2011. West Yorkshire Police had launched an investigation in 2011 – Operation Tavernhouse – after a 20-yearold victim contacted the charity Hope For Justice and other victims of the two men came forward.

Judge Armstrong told Illes:

“You were aware of the conditions in which these people were living and the conditions in which they were working, yet you were prepared to work for this gang, albeit acting under instructions from Orsos.”

After the hearing, Detective Sergeant Paul Simm of Kirklees CID said:

“We are pleased to see the conviction of Orsos and Illes today for offences which, quite simply, should not be taking place in 21st century Britain.”

Orsos and Illes were due to face to six-week trial by jury, but were sentenced as a result of entering a guilty plea before the case was heard.

Orsos was also found guilty of blackmail and converting criminal property, after the court was told that he had profited from the slave labour scheme to the tune of £60,000, which he had transferred out of the UK.

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