Three people forced a Latvian man to work and took his wages after it was arranged for him to move to Wales. The victim was vulnerable and turned up to work in the same dirty clothes every day.
The "hardworking" man was also given little food or water after arriving in Wales for a better life after living in Latvia and working in Germany. He was taken to an address in Newport and threatened he would be in trouble if he did not pay off a debt of thousands of pounds, or his family would be forced to pay the money.
Normunds Freibergs, 40, contacted the victim on a website called Draugiem, the Latvian version of Facebook. He was told he would have work in a bakery for £8.20 an hour, and would having living costs of £85 a week. He saved £1,000 while living in Germany and sent between €600 and €800 to Freibergs, who was said to have asked for deposit.
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But upon arriving at the home of couple Jokubas Stankevicius, 59, and Ruta Stankeviciene, 57, in Newport, he was stopped from showering and was not allowed to wash his clothes very often. He was also made to clean the entire house every week, but wasn't allowed access to his own wages or allowed to shower. Any mail addressed to him was sent to Freibergs' address.
Freibergs, of Morley Close, Newport, and Stankevicius and Stankeviciene were convicted of requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour. following a trial. Freibergs was also found guilty of arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation but acquitted of acting as an unlicensed gangmaster.
Prosecutor Lowri Wynn-Morgan previously told the trial: "The victim will say that whilst living (in Newport) he was threatened by Mr. Freiburg and Mr Stankevicius. They told him, in effect, that if he said anything or left without paying his debt he would be in trouble and his family would suffer.
"They told him that bad people in Latvia would force his family to pay the money, and that Mr. Stankevicius had been to prison and knew other criminals. The prosecution’s case is that these threats were designed to force the man to work by intimidation, to live in poor conditions and hand over the majority of his wages to the defendants."
Freibergs charged the victim £50 to obtain a National Insurance number to open a bank account and set up a Gmail account so payslips could be sent by email, but the defendant kept the password for the account. He also charged the victim 300 for help to obtain employment through Thomas Recruitment, which rose to £600 with interest. He charged him a further £300 after the victim gained employment at a chicken factory.
The victim's debt continued to grow to £2,000, he was unable to pay rent and the debt was transferred to Stankevicius with interest accruing. The victim gained employment at a chocolate factory but lost his job due to a lack of English. He was required to pay £85, which rose to £95 for internet and further raised to £150 a week due to Brexit. Stankevicius was said to keep a list on the fridge detailing the man's debt.
If he ever asked for money, the victim was told when he had paid off his debt he could "buy whatever he wanted". He was given small amounts of money for travel costs to work but had no money for clothing, with his other clothes becoming dirty and tattered.
Freibergs assaulted the victim by hitting him over the head, after he caught him sending a message to a friend, and when Stankevicius found out he had taken his passport to work, he shouted "How dare he take his passport without permission before he had paid his debt off". From then on he kept the passport.
Wages paid into bank accounts in the victim's name controlled by Freibergs between December 2017 and October 2018 came to £10,004. Analysis of the bank accounts showed the accounts were registered to Freibergs' address and transfers from these accounts were made to accounts belonging to Freibergs and Stankevicius and attempts were made by Stankevicius and Stankeviciene to withdraw money. The total amount taken was £8,962.
The victim's predicament came to light after began working at Faccenda Foods in Abergavenny in December 2017, but his co-workers became concerned for his welfare as he didn't have much food for him and appeared to be wearing the same clothes every day. A collection was held for him to buy trainers after he turned up for work in the winter wearing sandals. Other workers also said they shared they food with him after he watched them eating.
On October 9, 2018, an employee took the man to the company's HR department after he said he was "ready to talk". The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and police were called and the three defendants were arrested on October 26.
In a victim personal statement read out the court at a sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday, the victim said: "When I came to the UK in 2017, it was to secure a better life for myself and my family back in Latvia, I believed I'd be able to find better accommodation and better living standards, more job opportunities and better pay and conditions than I experienced working elsewhere in Europe......
"My family in Latvia had very little money, lived in poor conditions with little heating and poor food. My father has tuberculosis, I wanted to earn more money to send it home to help him. The fact is I could not send money home which contributed to my dad's health getting worse, he only received €100 in benefits a month. Had I sent more money home I could have prevented him becoming as ill as he has.
The victim said he considered taking out a loan to pay off his debt but had no on to speak to, and nobody to help him. He added: "I haven't forgotten what they did to me. I'm too scared to come to Wales, they have many friends and I believe they will hurt me. The impact of their actions caused me not to trust people now as they will seek to take advantage of me."
He said he no longer uses social media and the defendants took and pawned his phone and computer which contained photos and treasured memories. The victim added: "Life is now so different, I have freedom to go where I want and when I want. I have wages so I can sent money home to my father, I can cook whatever I want, I am having English lessons and I am going to college to study hospitality.... I will never forget the bad times and what happened to me."
In mitigation, Matthew Roberts said his client had lived a "peaceful and law abiding life" since the offences, and had a common law wife and a son who depend on him. He also said there had been a delay of three years in the case coming to court.
Stephen Thomas, for Stankeviciene said his client had "very little control" of what happened in her home and was not involved in planning or the financial side of the offence. He also referred to the defendant's physical and mental health issues, including pulmonary disease.
Harry Baker, for Stankevicius, said his client continues to deny the offence. He said he acts as a carer for his wife and asked the court to keep the sentence as short as possible.
Sentencing, Judge Richard Williams said: "(The victim) led a miserable and isolated existence as a second class citizen under their roof." Freibergs was sentenced to five years imprisonment, Stankevicius was sentenced to four years imprisonment, and Stankeviciene was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment suspended for 18 months. She was also made subject to a curfew for eight months and ordered to pay £1,000 in court costs.
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