Family jailed for keeping two Hungarian women as slaves
A family who trafficked two Hungarian women around the North West while subjecting them to months of enslavement, beatings and forced prostitution have been jailed.
Daniel Dardai, 19, Ferenc Dardai Snr, 42, Ferenc Dardai Jnr, 22, and Melania Kiraly, 42, from Bolton, pleaded guilty to sex trafficking at Bolton Crown Court.
Ferenc Dardai Jnr was jailed for six years
Daniel Dardai was jailed for three years
Ferenc Dardai Snr was jailed for four years
Melania Kiraly was jailed for four years.
On 26 March 2015, officers went to a property on Spa Road in Bolton after information from the community that women there were at risk.
Police say the two female victims stood out immediately - they were gaunt and timid. They were taken into a separate room by officers and spoken to away from the family. One victim was so terrified of the offenders she pleaded with officers to pretend she was being arrested, even holding out her hands to be led away.
The first victim’s ordeal began in 2013. She met Ferenc Dardai Jnr who persuaded her to move in with him and his family in Bolton, as his girlfriend.
Within weeks she was forced to work in the sex industry, treated as a slave in the house, and beaten daily by both Ferenc Dardai Jnr and his mother, Melania Kiraly.
Her life was totally controlled by the family; she was left to starve and rarely allowed more than three hours sleep a night.
Over the course of the next year, the victim lost a quarter of her body weight and was left with numerous long-term injuries as a result of the horrific treatment she had suffered at their hands.
The second victim, a 21-year-old woman, was subjected to similarly abusive and exploitative treatment.
Both women were forced to have unprotected sex with men and were often woken in the middle of the night by the family because they had received yet another call from a client demanding sex. Neither victim saw a penny of the money received, with the family often spending it on drugs or casinos.
One of the victims was told that if she alerted police her young son would be harmed back in Hungary. Ferenc Dardai Snr told her that he knew ‘where her son lived and will make sure that her son would be harmed, or even killed’ if she did not comply with their demands.
After being rescued, dedicated officers worked tirelessly with support networks to protect the women and help them regain control of their lives, while a team of officers focused on prosecuting the family and bringing them to justice.
Detective Inspector Neil Blackwood said:
Warning signs of modern slavery include:
· A lack of self-esteem
· Acting as if instructed by another
· Injured or in need of medical care
· Distrustful of authorities
· Fearful and poorly integrated into the local community
· Living in overcrowded accommodation
· Lacking suitable clothing for their job
· Picked up by vehicles at unusual hours