Four members of a Romanian crime family who made a fortune keeping at least 26 slave labourers in a terraced house have been jailed for a total of 22 years.
Their victims brought to the UK from Romania and were promised £50 a day to work in the construction industry with free food and accommodation.
But once they were crammed into the slums run by 62-year-old Vasile Dragoi - dubbed the ‘big boss’ - and his family, their wages were withheld and they were presented with bogus bills.
Their identification documents were seized and workers who challenged the family were threatened by Dragoi and his sons, Ion Dragoi, 26, Marian Podianu, 44, and 34-year-old Florinel Dragoi.
Judge Michael Hopmeier jailed Vasile for six years; Marian and Florinel were both jailed for five years and three months while Ion received five years and seven months.
Ion’s wife Alexandra Ciocodan, 28, was spared jail in an act of ‘mercy’, receiving a prison sentence of two years suspended over 18 months.
Vasile Dragoi was jailed for six years for his role as head of the family, which lured victims to the UK with false promises of well-paid construction work before trapping them in 'modern slavery' conditions with no pay
Florinel Dragoi (left) and Marian Podiani (right) were both jailed for five years and three months
Ion Dragoi (left) was sentenced to five years and seven months in jail, while his wife Alexandra Ciocodan (right) avoided jail as an act of 'mercy' from the judge
As the four men left the dock for the cells, Vasile blew a kiss to weeping supporters in the public gallery, while Ion kissed his wife who was clutching his hand, sobbing.
Vasile was head of the family and ran the criminal enterprise as ‘the big boss’, the court heard.
Prosecutor Edward Franklin said: ‘He was the recruiter.
‘It was to his house that some of the victims were initially brought before they were sent on to the other four properties.
‘It was the prosecution’s case that it was at his house that Vasile Dragoi Snr allotted, effectively, the people that were brought over.
‘He was also the person to arrange the travel to the relevant airport in Romania and frequently to accompany victims over to this country.
‘And the fact that the victims had the impression that he was the boss is not irrelevant in our submission.
‘They would have lived for considerable periods of time in the property...more than anyone in this case being able to appreciate the true nature of the hierarchy.
‘It seems that his address was very much the hub and the spokes of the wheel were the
