A FATHER and son forced a Polish couple to live in a shed and work into the night for just £4-a-day each under the fear of violence, a jury has heard.

Burnley Crown Court heard Mohammed Riaz and son Khuram Riaz allegedly gave Michal Czerniazwski and his partner Malgorzata Bieniek a limited supply of food.

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They were also warned that if they missed a day’s work they would have to pay £7 in rent. Some days they were not paid at all, a court was told.

Prosecutor Julian Goode said Miss Bieniek had initially been paid £1-per-day and had to negotiate with the Riaz’s to get up to the same pay as her partner.

The jury was told the offences only came to light when police visited the Riaz’s home in Manchester Road, Nelson, in April 2015 after concerns were raised for the welfare of the Polish couple.

They were discovered living in a ‘dirty, damp and mouldy’ shack which had been built from reclaimed materials, the jury heard.

Mr Goode said the alleged victims did not know the names of the defendants and would refer to Riaz senior as ‘Papa’ and Riaz junior as the ‘Boss’.

The jury was told ‘Papa’ would shout at Mr Czerniazwski if things were not done to his expectations and call him ‘stupid’ and said he had no sense.

Ms Bieniek alleged that five days after the police had visited the house, ‘Papa’ assaulted her by grabbing her arm, leaving bruising.

‘Papa’ is also said to have grabbed Mr Czerniazwski by the arm after a disagreement and kicked his leg.

Mr Goode said: “The prosecution case is that each of the complainants was unemployed and homeless in a foreign country.

“We say that each of them was left without any real choice but to take the chance of living in the ramshackle conditions offered by the defendants.

“And that once they fell under the defendants’ control they were required to work for derisory pay, at the threat of abuse and violence from their employers, and the threat of having to pay for their keep if they were not working, or under threat of losing the shack they had built for themselves.”

The court heard that in 2014 the couple had a turbulent relationship involving drunkenness and domestic violence.

Miss Bieniek returned to Poland and towards the end of the year Mr Czerniazwski began living with his friend Andrejz Doroz in the shed at the back of the Riaz’s property, the court heard.

Mr Goode said eventually Mr Czerniazwski was offered a job working for £4-a-day and accepted it because of his ‘desperate situation’.

Miss Bieniek returned to England in February 2015 and initially moved into the shack with her partner and Doroz, before they eventually built their own.

As well as their ‘living quarters’, there was also a ‘foul-smelling’ outbuilding, containing a toilet bowl, a hose pipe and basin which served as their bathroom.

The jury was told Miss Bieniek initially undertook small jobs, such as dog walking, cleaning the home and the yard, but when Mr Doroz was deported had to ‘pick up the slack’ and complete tasks, including roofing work and painting at the Riaz’s family grocers.

The court was told the victims were banned from having cigarette breaks and woken up in the middle of the night and given jobs to do.

Mr Goode said that when arrested the Riaz’s told police they had initially allowed Mr Doroz to stay on their property as an ‘act of good will or charity’ which they extended to the complainants. They also said they provided the couple with food ‘from time to time’ and were not ‘forcing them or compelling them to do any work’.

Mohammed Riaz, 63, and Khuram Riaz, 27, each deny two counts of forced or compulsory labour.

The incidents are said to have taken place between December 2014 and April 2015, and February 2015 and April 2015.

The trial continues.