Girl claims she was smuggled into Britain to act as couple's slave

Tag : Girl's Wear

An accountant who helped his wife smuggle a 14-year-old Ghanaiangirl into Britain to act as their slave has been jailed for 18months.

Samuel Quainoo, 59, and his wife, teacher Mrs Quainoo, 37, forcedthe girl to cook and clean in the house as well as being theprimary carer for their two young sons, she claimed.
At Isleworth Crown Court today, Judge Jonathan Lowen handedErnestina a suspended sentence.
The couple admitted one count of child trafficking, but denied theyhave treated her like a slave.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she was given"hand-me-downs" from Mrs Quainoo to wear.

She told the court that from 8am until 5pm or 6pm, she was expectedto feed, clothe and wash their baby, as well as sleep in the sameroom as him at night.
She claimed she was promised an education and job when she movedhere with Mrs Quainoo four years ago, but instead was rarelyallowed out alone, and had to work for free as the family's live-inbabysitter.
The teenager claimed to have had considered suicide because she wasso unhappy in Britain, the court heard.

After two years she walked into the local social servicesdepartment at Hillingdon saying she needed medical care because shewas ill with Hepatitis B.
The girl was smuggled by the accountant and his wife from Ghanawith false documents. But although the couple admit trafficking thechild into Britain in 2004, they deny ill-treatment and said theytreated her "like a daughter".
The teenager said she had worked for the accountant's wife as alive-in carer for her first baby in Ghana, although Mr Quainoolived in the UK.
She claimed she was made to come to Britain by her mother, who hadbeen promised by Mrs Quainoo that they would send her to schooland, when the time came, find her a job.
But although she said she was happy "in the beginning" and was paidfor her work when working for Mrs Quainoo in Ghana, she saideverything changed when they started preparations to move toBritain.
The teenager, from a village close to Accra, told police theQuainoos had changed her name, said she was their daughter and toldthe authorities she was younger than her real age to help apply fora two year visa to the UK in April 2004.

She arrived in Britain in July that year and moved into theQuainoo's family two bedroom home in West Drayton, Middlesex.
She said: "When we were coming to England she told me that shewanted me to look after her son for him so she have to change myname."
Her wages of