Family Given Slavery & Trafficking Prevention Orders

Greater Manchester Police has been successful in obtaining some of the first Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Orders issued in the UK.

On Tuesday 19 July 2016, Judge Peter Davies, presiding at Carlisle Crown Court, imposed Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Orders (STPOs) upon three members of a family from Bolton convicted of the sex trafficking of two women in September 2015.

The Dardai family, Ferenc Dardai Snr aged 43 and Ferenc Dardai Jnr aged 23, both of HMP Durham, and Melania Kiraly aged 43 of HMP Styal, subjected two Hungarian women to months of sexual exploitation, physical and mental abuse, forcing the women into prostitution and keeping the profits for themselves.

Following a thorough investigation by Greater Manchester Police’s Serious and Organised Unit, each member of the family pleaded guilty to sex trafficking at Bolton Crown Court and received a custodial sentence ranging between three and six years in length.

GMP was the first force in the country to apply for the newly-created orders, though several adjournments to the STPO hearings have meant that the restrictions imposed on this family are now not the first ever to be issued under the new legislation.

STPOs are civil orders created by the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and are designed to prevent anyone who has been convicted of a slavery or trafficking offence from committing any similar offences in future.

They do this by imposing any restrictions the court deem necessary to protect the public from harm and are usually based upon the type of offending the convicted parties were guilty of.

Any breach of those restrictions is a criminal offence and can result in a prison sentence of up to five years upon indictment.

Each member of the Dardai family has had these nine restrictions placed upon them:

1. They are to report in writing their name and address of any property in which they live to the Chief Constable for the force area where he/she resides.
2. Details of ownership of mobile phones and sim cards must be reported in writing to the Chief Constable for the force area where he/she resides.
3. They are not to have anyone linked to the sex industry in a car either owned or driven by them, or travel in the company of anyone linked to the sex industry.
4. They are not to advertise on adult sites on the internet or access the internet on any device other than those capable of recording browsing history. They are not to delete or install software that will in any way alter their browsing history and any device they own should be made available to the police upon request.
5. The details of any bank accounts they hold must be submitted in writing to the Chief Constable for the force area where he/she resides.
6. They are not to reside with any person involved in the sex industry.
7. Details of any casinos (including online) that they are registered with must be submitted in writing to the Chief Constable for the force area where he/she resides.
8. They are not to carry more than £200 in cash on their person at any one time.
9. They are not to have any contact, either directly or indirectly, with their victims.

The conditions for Ferenc Dardia Senior were the same as above for points 1 – 8, but point 9 was amended slightly to read:

9)  Not to have any contact either directly or indirectly with the victims for the duration of the order, unless consent to any specific contact between the defendant and victim is given by GMP.

Detective Inspector Neil Blackwood said: “This is a significant moment for Greater Manchester Police, as these will hopefully be the first of many STPOs we successfully apply for under the new Modern Slavery legislation.

“These orders are vitally important, because they are ultimately about preventing dangerous men and women from harming further victims.

“The protection of vulnerable people from harm is the absolute priority of GMP’s Serious and Organised Crime and Modern Slavery Coordination Units, and it is for that reason these orders are such a vital part of our armoury against offenders.

“Of course, the apprehension and conviction of those guilty of modern slavery offences is also important, but that will always be secondary to ensuring we safeguard victims from harm.

“These restrictions will allow GMP to ensure the Dardai family are unable to subject anyone else to the horrific treatment suffered by the two victims in this case.

“Modern slavery offences are unfortunately becoming much more frequent across Greater Manchester, but GMP’s specially created unit will continue to use the full legislative powers available to them to ensure that as few people as possible are affected by modern slavery in any of its guises.”