Slovakian family kept men in 'cycle of perpetual poverty'

Margita Slavikova and Robert Slavik both admitted two counts of fraud

A mother and son who kept two young vulnerable men in a "cycle of perpetual poverty" by controlling their bank accounts have been jailed.

Margita Slavikova, 68, and Robert Slavik, 40, financially exploited the men they had met when the victims were homeless in Slovakia, a court heard.

Despite working long hours, the men had no access to their bank account and were paid "pocket money" by the family.

Both Slavikova and Slavik were sentenced for two counts of fraud.

Slavikova - who Cambridge Crown Court heard had a "leading role" - was imprisoned for four years and two months, while Slavik was jailed for three years and four months.

The court was told that one of the victims - aged 17 at the time - had first been offered accommodation in his home nation in 2008, before later coming to Peterborough in the UK.

Prosecutor Claire Matthews told the court he began working for recruitment agencies in factories and doing labouring among other jobs, but had no access to his wages, and his bank card was predominantly held by the "matriarch" of the family Slavikova.

Ms Matthews said that he was paid about £30 per week from his wages and on one occasion he was "threatened with homelessness by Margita if he didn't work".

Roman Slavik and Maria Slavikova were two other family members who had already been convicted and jailed

In 2009, the family started to "use exactly the same method to impoverish" the second victim, Judge Jonathan Cooper said.

The judge said that Slavik had "recruited" him, "helping turn him into an economic unit".

The pair were kept in basic conditions in a house where at least one member of the family resided, and not allowed to go home, before the fraud was finally brought to an end after a police raid in April 2016.

Judge Cooper called the ordeal "systematic exploitation of vulnerable individuals for a significant period".

"Their entire earnings were plundered by you and your family, leaving your victims impoverished and powerless," he added.

The pair became the third and fourth members of the family to be jailed, after Slavikova's daughter and grandson in March.