A Lithuanian human trafficker was sentenced to four years imprisonment at Worcester Crown Court on Friday, February 12th, after he pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing, to four counts of people trafficking and three counts of slavery.

39-year-old Ramunas Vaznys held four victims as slaves, and forced them to live in a cramped caravan, which he rented on land in Hampton Bishop, between 2014 and 2015.

His victims, who could not speak English and were entirely dependant on Vaznys for food and accommodation, were lured into the UK by him with promises of work and cheap accommodation.

When they arrived in the UK, the victims were then told by Vaznys they each had to pay him £100 per week for six months, and then take out a bank loan of for £2000-£3000 ‘until they were free’.

Of the four victims who Vaznys trafficked into the UK intending to exploit, those who found employment had their wages paid into bank accounts - which Vaznys helped to set up. He took the victim’s bank card when they arrived and then made a series of withdrawals from his victim’s accounts as he saw fit.

When anyone challenged his behaviour, Vaznys threatened them. On one occasion he physically beat one of the complainants and when this did not suffice, several of them were put on a bus back to Lithuania.

In March 2015, West Mercia Police received a tip off about an illegal recruitment agency. The police arrested Vaznys, who had since moved to Ipswich.

Vaznys pleaded guilty to trafficking each of his four victims, with a view to exploiting them, keeping two of them in servitude and requiring a third to perform forced or compulsory labour.