Police quizzed me over ‘slavery’ ... for asking Ukraine refugee to help with the washing up
AN NHS mental health specialist who took in a Ukrainian refugee was reported for modern day slavery after she asked her guest to help out more with the dishes.
Hannah Debenham, 42, began hosting a Ukrainian teacher and her ten-year-old daughter under the Government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme in June.
However, the refugee – who cannot be named for legal reasons – moved out after just three weeks when the pair clashed over cleaning and childcare.
Mrs Debenham was later questioned by police after the refugee claimed she had been ‘expected to clear up and tidy up the house for little to no money’.
The mother of two, from Uckfield in East Sussex, was under investigation for two months before the case was dropped this week when no evidence was found. Describing
the situation as ‘the worst experience of my life’, Mrs Debenham told the Mail: ‘It was just devastating. We just wanted to help. If I was charged I would have had to declare that and it would have been a permanent impediment to my career.’
The NHS worker, who has been a mental health specialist for 15 years, claimed that officers had also told her husband she could face life in prison if she was found guilty.
Detective Chief Inspector Gavin Patch, of Sussex Police, defended his force’s actions, telling the Mail that it takes any slavery report ‘very seriously’ and that the investigation was ‘expedited as quickly as possible’.
The Homes for Ukraine scheme has reportedly faced a string of issues since its launch in March due to fall-outs among hosts and guests and delays to the £350 promised to hosts for each refugee family taken in.
Mrs Debenham first got in touch with her guest when she and her husband, who also works in the NHS, were looking for an au pair to work in their eight-bedroom home.
They stumbled upon the profile of a Ukrainian woman in her 30s and reached out to see if she would be a good fit.
Mrs Debenham said they came to an agreement that would allow the teacher and her daughter to stay with them on the basis that she would perform babysitting duties for two to three days a week, for which she would be paid £200.
Although Mrs Debenham said the first couple of weeks were ‘fine’, she added: ‘They did not clear up after themselves. The amount of dishes to be done quickly doubled. I explained to [the teacher] that she needed to help out more.’ The two then had an argument after Mrs Debenham said she couldn’t drive the refugee to an appointment as she was working.
The Ukrainian mother later took Mrs Debenham’s five-year-old son to visit a school and, when he said he needed the toilet, allegedly told him to use an open field and wiped his bottom with leaves.
Mrs Debenham said: ‘I felt I could no longer fully trust her with my children and we decided that the arrangement was no longer working for us.’
Shortly after the guest moved out, Mrs Debenham said police contacted her and told her she had been accused of slavery.
Officers spent two hours speaking with her husband at their home before a modern-day slavery inspector questioned Mrs Debenham for 90 minutes during a ‘voluntary interview’ at Eastbourne police station. A police report seen by the Mail said the Ukrainian
‘Worst experience of my life’ ‘Expected to clear up and tidy’
mother had alleged she was ‘made to work most days, looking after the children and expected to clear up and tidy up the house’.
It alleged that she was being ‘used as a slave and full-time child minder for little to no pay under the disguise of assisting her in the Ukrainian settlement scheme’.
She did not respond to the Mail’s request for comment.
A spokesman for Sussex Police said the refugee had been approached on ‘several occasions’ for a full statement but ‘was not willing to assist’. He added: ‘As a result, it was judged that there was insufficient evidence... and no further action would be taken.’