Pair made housemate slave sleep under stairs 'like Harry Potter' amid horrific campaign of abuse

Vulnerable man made to eat spicy food and ordered to dance on camera, police say

A couple who forced a vulnerable Romanian man to live a “Harry Potter-like” existence in a cupboard under the stairs, controlled his income and gave him just £1 a day to buy biscuits, have been convicted under the Modern Slavery Act.

Jurors found Ion Boboc, 26, and Christiana Tudor-Dobre, 24, both guilty of fraud and requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour following a trial at Bristol Crown Court.

The victim was forced to eat “highly spiced food”, and was filmed being ordered to dance and perform other physical challenges, according to Avon and Somerset Police.

The 31-year-old man, who officers described as vulnerable, was also banned from using the bathroom or kitchen table, so ate and washed outside. The Independent has chosen not to name him.

He was even made to drink out of an outdoor hosepipe and use woodland when he needed the toilet, and had eggs and flour thrown at him. Yet he regarded the defendants as “family”, the force said.

In an earlier hearing, prosecutor Charles Thomas likened his treatment to that endured by “the boy wizard Harry Potter” in JK Rowling’s series of children’s books.

Despite earning between £300 and £350 a week through his job at an abattoir, the man was only given enough money for bus fare plus £1 for biscuits.

Police praised neighbours who alerted them through a modern slavery helpline after they saw the victim washing in the garden, using a basin fashioned from a pile of rocks.

Officers visited the home in July last year and arrested two men and a woman.

The cupboard in which the victim slept (Avon and Somerset Police)

PC Roger Ibrahim, who led the case, said in a statement: “Without the information through the modern slavery hotline this abuse would still be happening.

“When we found this man he appeared underfed and was suffering from sores on his feet. No one should be treated in this way.”

Investigators found documents belonging to the victim, such as his ID card, bank card, financial papers and multiple phone contracts, in a bedroom used by Boboc and Tudor-Dobre.

Avon and Somerset Police said he was now receiving “appropriate support”.

Ben Samples, of the Crown Prosecution Service, praised the man for “the incredible strength and bravery he showed in giving evidence”.

Boboc and Tudor-Dobre, both from the St Anne’s Park area of Bristol, are to be sentenced on 19 March.

Another man, Mihai-Aurel Dan, 36, was cleared by the jury.

Additional reporting by SWNS