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Four family members have appeared in court to deny keeping a woman as a slave at a Stockton house.

Sakina Bibi, 67, Rabia Mobin, 27, Tariq Mahmood Siddique, 47, and Javid Iqbal, 42, appeared at Teesside Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

They are charged with knowingly holding another person in slavery and servitude at a Stockton address, by using “force and threat of force” between November 1, 2014 and July 30, 2015.

The relatives are believed to be the first people on Teesside to be charged under new anti-slavery laws which came into effect in 2010.

The charge carries a potential jail sentence of up to 14 years.

Iqbal, of Yarm Road, Stockton, is also charged with intentionally arranging entry into the UK for a person with a view to exploiting them.

His mother Sakina Bibi and sister Rabia Mobin, both of Osborne Road, Stockton, are also facing assault charges relating to an incident on Saturday, August 8. Proceedings were translated into Punjabi for them by an interpreter.

Siddique, also of Osborne Road, Stockton, only faces the slavery charge.

The four appeared at Teesside Magistrates’ Court from custody, and pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

They will next appear at Teesside Crown Court on August 24.

​​Judge Harmes allowed them conditional bail.

All four must reside at their home address and have been given an electronically tagged curfew from midnight to 6am, and must also report to Stockton police station on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays any time between 10am and 2pm.

They were also told that they cannot apply for any travel documents, or leave the UK.

UPDATE: Trial expected to start next year