Sports Direct welcome jailing of people traffickers
Two brothers who trafficked people from Poland and sent them to work at Sports Direct at Shirebrook are now behind bars.
Erwin and Krystian Markowski were each jailed for six years at Nottingham Crown Court, after admitting facilitating the transport of a person to the UK for exploitation and fraud by false representation.
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Hide AdPolice say Erwin, aged 38, of Cedar Road, Forest Fields, Nottingham, and 35-year-old Krystian, of Harcourt Road, also in Forest Fields, targeted victims in Poland and offered them the chance to travel to the UK
A spokesman for Sports Direct said: “We welcome the conviction of these two individuals, who were brought to justice after being reported to police by the Transline agency and Sports Direct in February 2016. It sends a clear message that we will not tolerate these kinds of behaviour.”
A Transline spokesperson added: “These two brothers have no association to Transline. In February 2016, a single worker reported that they were being exploited in this manner - we reported this to the police, providing all the information we had available. Two other employees were identified as being in the same situation at the first employee’s residential address. The police later confirmed that all three former employees had been relocated and were safe, and an investigation was ongoing.
“We have stringent and thorough checks in place on identities and bank and payment details to prevent this type of criminal activity, and find any instances deplorable and cruel. We will always support the authorities in catching criminals such as these two brothers, and bringing them to justice.”
See court report here: