By Lucy Caulkett-
A family doctor who trafficked a ‘slave nanny’ into the UK and threatened her with violence, is facing jail.
44 year old Dr Ayodeji Adewakun, and his wife, 48 year old Abimbola Adewakun, tricked the woman to the UK from Nigeria under the false pretext of a £500 monthly salary.
The couple confiscated her passport following her arrival in February 2007, and subjected her to ‘constant demands and verbal abuse’.
+5Dr Ayodeji Adewakun and husband Abimbola Adewakun face jail for trafficking a ‘slave nanny’from Nigeria to the UK.
She managed to escape two years later after finally receiving just £350 – the equivalent of a wage of £15 a month.
The couple were convicted of trafficking by a jury at Southwark Crown Court today following an investigation my Scotland Yard’s Modern Slavery and Kidnap Unit.
Jurors were unable to reach a verdict in relation to Dr Adewakun on a charge of trafficking a second alleged victim. The shocking story shows just how heartless some people can be. Individuals who act this way also expose their stupidity and naivity about life and the system here in the UK. It should not take much thinking to know that not many people will continue such appalling level of slavery indefinitely in the Uk, without reporting it at some stage in search of freedom. Adewakun, who works as a doctor in an Abbey Wood surgery is well read is medicine, but not quite smart in life. He would have foreseen this shameful end which will surely destroy his career in Britain.
BETTER LIFE
Adewakun and his wife claimed to have brought the woman here to give her ‘a better life’ than she would have had in Nigeria
However, the 37-year-old victim told Southwark Crown Court she was later forced to work all day cleaning the house and cooking for the family. Jurors heard that her sleep was often interrupted whenever Adewakun arrived home late at night, and wanted a snack
The woman described a typical working day as one involving cleaning the house, cooking for the family, preparing the children for school, running errands and sometimes working through to midnight before being allowed to finally go to bed.
When the woman finally managed to get her passport back she sought help from a charity and an investigation was opened into the Adewakuns. The pair were bailed until June, and told by the Judge to expect a lengthy sentence.