Gang who made victims work in a bakery for £10 a week without breaks (original) (raw)

Gang members pocketed £400k after tricking trafficked victims into £10 a week contracts

Three gang members were jailed for a combined nearly 30 years after they were found to have exploited trafficked workers for years by having them sign trumped-up contracts

Zdenek Drevenak, 38, Martin Slovjak, 46, and Jiri Cernohou, 49, were found to have exploited their trafficked victims

Sick gang members have been jailed for a combined 26 years after they were found to have trafficked vulnerable people from the Czech Republic to work in a bakery for just £10 a week, and without breaks.

Zdenek Drevenak, 38, Martin Slovjak, 46, and Jiri Cernohou, 49, were found by Metropolitan Police investigators to have worked in a crime group that exploited victims in London, Cambridge and Bedford from as early as 2012. Detectives, who worked in tandem with Czech police starting in 2019, uncovered years of abuse that started after people were lured to the UK.

During a trial at Southwark Crown Court, it was heard that the gang massively profited off the labour of their victims, making around £400,000 per year after enticing them on promises of jobs and accommodation. Anyone who took them up on their offer was transported to Durants Road in Enfield, London, where they would be made to work in inhumane conditions.

My London reported that some victims were forced to work for 10 to 12 hours per day, without breaks, at fast-food chains in Cambridgeshire, the court heard, or at a pita bread bakery that had branches in Hertfordshire and Tottenham. Many of those put to work were unable to speak English and made to sign contracts that transferred their wages into the gang-members' bank accounts.

In return, those employed by the gang received dregs, with £10 to £50 pocket money payments instead of the approximately £300 they should have been receiving for their work per week. They were even charged £150 a week - £900 per month - in rent. Met investigators gathered evidence by reviewing up to 1,505 hours of CCTV footage from a house in Enfield, and, following the trial, the three men were sentenced on October 4.

Drevenak, of Crane Street, Huntingdon, was sentenced to thirteen years imprisonment, Cernohous, of Spenser Road, Bedford, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment, and Slovjak, 46, of Cambridge Road, Croxton was sentenced to four years imprisonment. Debi Lloyd, Head of UK Counter Trafficking Operation at Justice and Care, said the victims faced "horrific exploitation" at the gang's hands.

She said: "This has been a long running and complex case and it has been our privilege to support the survivors. These men and women faced horrific exploitation that no human being should ever be put through, and the courage they have shown throughout the investigation amid incredibly difficult circumstances has been astounding.

"We also applaud the tireless work of the police involved in this case. This sentencing shows how our navigators are essential in empowering survivors throughout the criminal justice process and enabling investigation teams to build strong cases."