For enslaving a vulnerable man, two men were imprisoned and one woman received a suspended sentence

Rolands Kazoks, 31, from Latvia, was stripped of his bank cards and denied
showers and clean clothes.
Jokubas Stankevicius, 59, and his wife Ruta Stankeviciene, 57, both of
Capel Close, and Normunds Freibergs, 41, of Morley Close, were found guilty
of forcible labour.
Freibergs received a five-year sentence, while Stankevicius received a
four-year sentence.
Stankeviciene received a 20-month prison sentence that was suspended for 18
months. She will be subject to a curfew between 7pm and 7am until June 23.
Judge Richard Williams stated that he took her health and mobility issues
into account, but that she had “played your part in a serious offence.”
“Your mobility issues did not prevent you from taking your mobility scooter
to the cashpoint,” Judge Williams said, referring to her withdrawal of
money from Mr Kazoks’ account at the local ATM.
The judge also informed the court that the housing association from which
the couple rents their home was considering terminating their tenancy.
Freibergs was also found guilty of arranging or facilitating another
person’s travel for the purpose of exploitation, but not of acting as an
unlicensed gangmaster.
In this house, Rolands Kazoks’ life was made a living hell.
Mr Kazoks arrived in the UK in October 2017 after Freibergs arranged for
him to stay at the home of Jakabus Stankevicius and his wife Ruta in
Newport’s Pill district.
But all three of them duped him. They took his passport and his bank
account, stealing around £10,000 in total.
They forced him to work at a bakery and then a meat processing plant for 11
months and took almost all of his earnings.
When he inquired about the status of his wages, he was threatened with
violence.
They informed him that he owed them money for rent, job arrangement fees,
and Brexit.
After seeing him come to work in sliders, a type of flip flop, in the snow,
colleagues at the meat processing plant in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire,
became concerned for him.
The Gangmasters Licensing and Labour Authority launched an investigation,
and Mr Kazoks was later taken into custody.
Rolands Kazoks stated in his statement that he wanted to come to the UK
because the wages were significantly higher than in Latvia.
He stated that he wanted to send money home to his family in Latvia, where
they had “little money, heat, or food.”
Rolands Kazoks stated that his father had tuberculosis and received only
about €100 (£86) per month in benefits.
“I will never forget what they did to me,” Mr Kazoks said.
He said he was afraid to return to south Wales because he feared he would
face violence from the three’s friends.
He now claims to have “freedom” and a new life. He is studying hospitality
at college and taking English classes in order to get a better paying job.