Modern day slaves on 50p an hour while gang drove Bentleys
UK’s largest trafficking ring made £2m from 400 victims
A GANG who made £2 million trafficking more than 400 Poles into the UK as modern slaves were behind bars last night after a landmark prosecution.
In Britain’s largest human slavery case, the family at the centre of the five-year crime ring preyed upon vulnerable down-and-outs and released convicts in their home country.
Once trafficked to the UK, they were set up with bank accounts and became eligible for benefits, all of which were controlled by the criminals.
As their victims slept four to a room in vermin-infested terraced homes, bosses lived the high life, wearing lavish clothes and driving luxury cars, including a Bentley.
Two trials in Birmingham heard how the gang, led by the Brzezinski family, used a network of ‘enforcers’ who told victims they were here illegally. The gang even infiltrated a recruitment firm to ensure no questions were asked over the slaves who were put to work.
One man who complained about living conditions and pay had his arm broken, while another was stripped in front of other workers, doused in iodine and told he would lose his kidneys if he did not keep quiet.
Victims being paid 50p a day were reduced to smoking used cigarette butts and going to soup kitchens and food banks.
Following the lifting of reporting restrictions yesterday, it can be reported that five men and three women were convicted of modern slavery offences and money laundering.
Ignacy Brzezinski, 52, of West Bromwich, and Wojciech Nowav1 kowski, 41, were convicted at the end of the second trial last month. Nowakowski was an enforcer who lived among victims in a slum property in Winson Green, Birmingham.
Brzezinski skipped bail following his conviction after being allowed to recover at home from a drunken staircase fall. He was jailed for 11 years in his absence while Nowakowski was sentenced to six and a half years.
Judge Mary Stacey described Brzezinski as a ‘high-functioning alcoholic,’ adding: ‘As the head of the family, he set the tone of the operation, and also enjoyed the fruits of the conspiracy, riding round in his Bentley and a fleet of high performance cars at his disposal.’
Birmingham Crown Court heard Nowakowski was also an alcoholic and had lost two toes to frostbite after falling asleep drunk in the snow in Poland.
Co- defendant Jan Sadowski, 26, also of West Bromwich, pleaded guilty at the start of the two-month case and was jailed for three years.
Gang member Julianna Chodakiewicz infiltrated an employment agency in Evesham, Worcestershire, putting victims to work in warehouses, poultry factories and recycling centres.
As well as Winson Green, victims, aged 17 to over 60, were housed across at least nine Black Country addresses.
The victims, who were promised a better life in England, included convicts who were approached by the gang outside jail as they were released.
The group were convicted of exploiting 92 people trafficked from their home country but detectives believe the true number is closer to 450.
At a previous trial, Marek Chowaniec, 30, his partner Natalia Zmuda, 29, both of Walsall, along with Ignacy’s cousin, Marek Brzezinski, 50, from Tipton, West Midlands, Chodakiewicz, 24, from Evesham and Justyna Parczewska, 48, Ignacy’s wife, of West Bromwich, were all convicted and sentenced to between 11 and four and a half years.
Mark Paul, of CPS West Midlands, said: ‘This is the largest modern slavery prosecution of its kind in the UK and perhaps in Europe. The scale of the operation was truly staggering, with millions of pounds netted.’
‘Told he would lose his kidneys’