A KEY member of a ruthless slavery gang that trafficked vulnerable victims to Bradford to plunder their pay packets has been jailed for four years.

David Zielinski was an able and willing lieutenant for the family firm Zielinski and Sons that trawled the streets of their native Poland to find poor and desperate people to exploit in the UK.

But dreams of a better life in Britain contrasted sharply with a reality of sleeping on the floor in crowded, unfurnished accommodation and scavenging on the citys streets.

Zielinski and his family bought a luxurious villa in Poland from the proceeds of forced labour by men and women from their homeland, Bradford Crown Court heard. One man had 8,000 stolen from him and others were left with just 5 a day from their wage packets. The heating was turned off at addresses in Leeds Road, Thornbury, Lower Rushton Road and Nottingham Road, Bradford, and food was scarce. Victims had to relieve themselves in the garden because of inadequate bathroom facilities.

One man said he was treated like a dog and others spoke of severe beatings if they attempted to escape. A terrified victim was told he would be killed and buried in the woods if he ran away again. Zielinski was convicted by the jury of two offences of trafficking under the 2015 Modern Slavery Act and a charge of conspiracy to require another person to perform compulsory labour.

During the 12 day trial, the court heard from six victims of Zielinski and Sons. Nine other men were mentioned in the evidence by first name only and so could not be traced by the police.

Judge Jonathan Rose said Zielinski, 24, of Enfield, North London,was involved in the deliberate exploitation of fellow human beings.

We heard evidence of the luxurious villa your family owned in Poland, financed no doubt by the forced labour of these men and women. And this, of course, was the object of the exercise the enslavement of vulnerable men and women for your own financial greed, Judge Rose told Zielinski.

He continued: You were not the leader of this conspiracy, although I find you to have been an able and willing lieutenant who would profit no less than other members of your family.

Judge Rose made a ten year Slavery Trafficking Prevention Order when jailing Zielinski. He said the sentence was both to punish him and to deter others.

After the case, Detective Chief Inspector Warren Stevenson, of the Protective Services (Crime) team, said police had worked extensively with agencies across the country and in Europe to get justice for the victims of what he branded heinous offences.

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Slavery 'lieutenant' jailed for 'heinous offences' - Bradford Telegraph and Argus