A COUPLE have been charged with slavery offences after claims they lured a childhood friend to the UK and made him work for a pittance in Dudley and Oldbury.

It is alleged 32-year-old Tadeusz Ondycz and 26-year-old Marta Dombrowska, from Willes Road in Winson Green, arranged the man’s travel to the country from Poland before securing him work at a recycling plant in the Black Country.

However, the pair are accused of stealing the 47-year-old’s wages and documentation and controlling his bank account.

Ondycz and Dombrowska appeared at Birmingham Magistrates Court on Friday (October 13) where they were both been charged with human trafficking and holding a person in slavery or servitude − under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 − plus one count of fraud by false representation.

They were remanded into prison and are next scheduled to appear at Birmingham Crown Court on November 10.

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said it is believed the man worked between two sites, one in Dudley and one in Oldbury, but did not confirm the name of the recycling plant.