A couple convicted of running a human trafficking network in Bristol – promising people a new life in the UK then forcing them to work without pay - have been jailed.
The National Crime Agency rescued five men who were being kept as modern slaves in a house in Brentry Lane, Bristol, by Maros Tancos, 46, and Joanna Gomulska, 46. Tancos recruited vulnerable people from Slovakia, targeting those who were often raised in orphanages or living in camps.
He promised them transport to the UK, somewhere to live and food. He said they could keep half of their wages each month, whilst the other half would be kept for rent and board.
READ MORE ON THIS CASE: Inside 'squalid' Bristol home of couple jailed for car wash slavery
In reality, victims received no money. Earnings were spent by the defendants on online gambling, in casinos, on buying cars or their own living costs.
Tancos and Gomulska were both convicted of multiple charges of conspiracy to traffic people into the UK. They were also convicted of conspiracy to acquire criminal property.
Judge Martin Picton jailed Tancos for 16 years. He jailed Gomulska for nine years.
The judge told them: "I have to sentence both of you in respect of a business you jointly ran which treated the victims of your criminal conspiracy as if they were chattels. They represented a cash value to you in the same way cattle do to a farmer."
NCA investigators found Tancos and Gomulska failed to pay a minimum of £923,835 in wages, calculated if Tancos had paid his victims minimum wage for eight hours a day. The pair also transferred almost £300,000 from their victims' accounts earnt whilst working at the secondary jobs.
One victim described the house as a ‘gate to hell’ and said they were not allowed to leave. They said: “The only thing I knew was work. All the time I was thinking that I was a slave there. I thought there was no way back.”
On arrival in the UK, the couple took their victims’ identity documents and phones, leaving them unable to travel independently or leave. The victims were required to work for their car wash business in Bristol during the day and at other jobs at night.
Tancos and Gomulska kept all of their bank cards, would take victims to open bank accounts, and applied for loans or credit cards in their names. Between 2010 and 2017, almost £300,000 was transferred from their accounts.
Victims described living with ten people in a three bedroom home, sharing one bathroom and sleeping on dirty mattresses. The couple would lock their victims in the house when they were out, but they told investigators that even if the door was unlocked they felt they could not leave due to the level of control they held over them.
In statements victims described their time with the defendants as ‘catastrophic’ and said they were humiliated, hit and punished by Tancos. Another described returning to Slovakia when she fell pregnant, with her child being born malnourished and suffering epileptic fits because she had no money to bring back from the UK for food.
Tancos and Gomulska made their victims work under any circumstances. One described an occasion where he broke his arm and had it set in a cast at hospital. They still made him continue to work in the car wash.
The couple were arrested on suspicion of modern slavery and human trafficking offences in July 2017. Both denied their involvement but following a trial spanning almost three months, including evidence from 15 victims, they were convicted by a jury on April 4 at Bristol Crown Court.
'They were prisoners'
NCA Branch Commander Colin Williams said: “Tancos and Gomulska treated their victims as possessions, exploiting their hope of a better life for themselves and their families to keep them in a never ending cycle of abuse. They were prisoners. The experiences they shared in court showed how mentally broken the couple left them.
“These people came from impoverished backgrounds to the UK with optimism, but instead had their vulnerability taken advantage of. Whilst they suffered, Tancos and Gomulska spent their victims’ wages on gambling and cars.
“The support from our international partners in Slovakia was pivotal in being able to trace victims who had returned home and meant they could give evidence via video links detailing the couple’s abhorrent behaviour dating back to 2008. Tackling human trafficking is one of our highest priorities, and we will continue to work with partners to pursue offenders and protect victims.”
The NCA launched a new campaign recently urging people to think about where they spend their money to avoid inadvertently supporting modern slavery. Car washes, nail bars, takeaway restaurants and doorstep services, such as builders, driveway or paving installers, cleaners or gardeners, can often be disguising illegal labour practices and the exploitation of workers.
For information on signs to look out for, see nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/ethicalconsumerchoices. If you have concerns about modern slavery at a business or for a person, call the Modern Slavery Helpline anonymously on 08000 121 700.
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