According to a statement on Surrey Police’s website, Laszlo Egeresi and Gabor Olah, both of Molesey Road, Hersham, were sentenced today after being found guilty last month following a five-week trial at Kingston Crown Court.

Egeresi and Olah were both found guilty by a unanimous verdict on one count of human trafficking for the purposes of exploitation under section 2 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

The duo was also found guilty by a majority verdict on a second count, while Egeresi was found guilty by a majority verdict on a third count. However, Egeresi was found not guilty of a fourth count of human trafficking for the purposes of exploitation.

Egeresi has been jailed for seven and a half years and Olah for six years. Both have been made the subject of a seven-year human trafficking order. 

The pair were arrested after officers carried out warrants at three addresses in Walton-on-Thames in the early hours on Friday, 23 June 2017. They were joined by officers and staff from the National Crime Agency, the Department of Work and Pensions, The Salvation Army and the Red Cross.

Despite this success, however, according to a report by the Council of Europe today, labour trafficking is on the rise across Europe. The report claims it has overtaken sexual exploitation as the predominant form of modern-day slavery in several countries including Britain, Belgium and Portugal.

A lack of prosecutions and convictions, limited labour laws and inspections, and fear among victims are hindering efforts to tackle trafficking in industries from agriculture to construction, the report goes on to say.

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