A 46-year-old Polish woman  Joanna Gomulska and her 45-year-old Slovak partner Maros Tancos have been sentenced to imprisonment for 9 and 16 years, respectively, for “modern slavery” by the Bristol Crown Court. 

The couple „dragged in” and forced from 29 to 42 Slovak citizens to work as slaves in the UK. In order to make their shady business flourish, the criminals picked mostly people from care homes and orphanages, in difficult situations, with limited resources and poor knowledge of the English language.

They promised their victims a better life and permanent employment in Great Britain, confiscating their documents, passports, and phones upon their arrival in the UK. 

They later kept them in inhumane conditions, regularly bullying and beating them, while also forcing them to perform heavy physical labour. 

The tormentors got exposed after one of their victims went back home to Slovakia and submitted a complaint to local authorities. This allowed the National Crime Agency (NCA) to find them.

Following an investigation, the NCA organised a raid on a property located in northern Bristol, where five Slovak men living in cramped rooms were discovered. 

The victims told the police that there were regularly up to ten men kept in three tiny rooms and sharing one bathroom. One victim reportedly even described the house they were kept prisoners as „the gateway to hell.„

Image: National Crime Agency  

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen