West London couple who enslaved a man jailed for six years Published duration 7 December 2015

image copyright Metropolitan Police/PA image caption Emmanuel and Antan Edet had 'robbed' Ofonime Sunday Inuk of the opportunity of leading a normal life, the judge said

A trained doctor and his wife, a nurse at Ealing Hospital, have been given six-year sentences after they kept a man as a slave in their west London home.

Emmanuel and Antan Edet were both found guilty of ill-treating a young person, holding him in servitude and assisting unlawful immigration.

Ofonime Sunday Inuk, now aged 40, worked up to 17 hours a day unpaid.

He cared for the couple's children, and also cooked and cleaned the house.

'Slept in hallway'

He was about 14 years old in 1989 when he left his native Nigeria with Emmanuel Edet, now 61, and his wife Antan, 58. They changed Mr Inuk's name and added him to their family passport when they first brought him to the UK.

He believed he would be working as a paid 'houseboy' and receive education in the UK.

But the couple, whom he referred to as 'Sir' and 'Ma' in diaries, gave him only occasional 'pocket money' and forced him to eat his meals alone and sleep on the hallway floor of the house in Perivale.

image copyright PA image caption The court heard that Mr Inuk was forced to keep his foam bed and belongings in a cupboard under the stairs, even though the house had four bedrooms

Judge Arran told the Edets: "The most serious aspect of your behaviour towards him was that it went on for an exceptionally long period of time, robbing him of the opportunity of leading a normal life.

"He has found it difficult to adjust."

Tried to leave

Mr Inuk told Harrow Crown Court he had not seen his passport for more than a decade and once tried to join the Army, but was rejected because he did not have the document.

Edet told him it had expired and he needed to visit Nigeria to acquire a new one.

He said Mr Inuk would get an emergency travel ticket from the Nigerian embassy, but this never happened.

image copyright PA image caption The living room of the Edets' home in Perivale, where Mr Inuk cleaned, cooked and gardened

Mr Inuk eventually managed to alert a charity to his plight after the couple went to Nigeria for Christmas in 2013, and they were arrested the following March.

Worked in NHS

Emmanuel Edet worked for Surrey County Council as a manager in the teenage pregnancy strategy team, and was the author of published papers on the subject.

His wife was a senior nurse at Ealing Hospital.

They each served 287 days on bail with curfew conditions, and half that time will be subtracted from their six-year sentences.