wicked family forced man to be their slave for five years and threatened to bury him if he ran away

A family of three have been jailed after trafficking a 46 year old Polish man and keeping him as a 'slave' for five years. Damian Siwak, 31, Kyrstian Siwak, 25, and Rozalia Siwak, 47, forced the victim to work for nothing more than cider at their Manchester home, a court heard. 

Whenever he tried to escape from the property, they severely beat him and threatened him with burial. Now, the trio, all from Bolton, have been jailed for a total of almost eight years after being found guilty of the horrific offences against the 46-year-old man. 

The court heard how the victim flew from his native Poland to Liverpool with Kyrstian after being offered ‘a good wage for an honest day’s work’.

When he landed in the UK, he was taken to the family’s home in Greenland Road, Bolton, and his identification documents were taken away from him for ‘safe-keeping’.

He never saw them again and was immediately put to work, never receiving any money for his labour, just his clothes, food and cider. The victim was regularly assaulted by both Kyrstian and Damian to ensure they retained an 'element of physical and mental dominance' over him. 

He ran away on several occasions, but when he was found by the Siwak family he was heavily beaten and told he would be buried in a forest if he attempted to escape them again.

This treatment continued for many months and the man soon became increasingly malnourished and physically weak.

After nearly five years of suffering, the victim finally managed to escape in June 2015 after he fell from a ladder and broke his ankle, forcing them to take him to Royal Bolton Hospital for treatment.

It was while he was at the hospital that staff became concerned for the victim’s welfare, and upon interviewing him they discovered that he had been subject to years of servitude at the hands of the Siwak family.

Hospital staff called the police and officers soon swooped to safeguard the victim and remove him from harm.

Det Chief Insp Christopher Mossop said: 

“This is a harrowing case and involves one of the longest periods of enslavement and forced labour that I have ever come across.

“I cannot imagine the mental anguish suffered by this man, spending five years of his life at the beck and call of a family intent on exploiting him to the fullest extent.

“They worked him to the bone, day after day, week after week, month after month, never once giving him what he was owed or even treating him like a fellow human being.
“Worse still, whenever he did not do what they wanted, they beat him.

“They conditioned him to believe they were in complete control, that there was no escape.

“Such was their mental and physical dominance, that had he not suffered this injury and appeared at Royal Bolton Hospital, then I believe he would still be under their control.

“His physical deterioration over five years was startling, and their treatment left him malnourished and an alcoholic.

“The cider they provided to keep him under their control was his only outlet from the pain of his day-to-day existence.”

Damian was jailed for three years and four months, while Kyrstian and Rozalia both received sentences of two years and three months.