The cramped bedroom where a couple are believed to have kept vulnerable men living in squalor while pocketing their wages from McDonald’s can be revealed by MailOnline.
Ernest Drevenak, 46, and Veronika Bubencikova, 46, forced the men to share a tiny room in their modern semi-detached housing association home.
Neighbours assumed all the people living in the two bedroom house were part of an ‘extended family’ and had no idea that the couple were keeping the men as slaves.
The six men are believed to have all been sleeping in an upstairs room measuring only around 17ft by 10ft at its widest point at the house in Upper Cambourne, Cambridgeshire.
The Drevenak and Bubncikova exploited vulnerable men from the Czech Republic from 2015 until police smashed their operation after a tip-off in 2019.
The bedroom in the home of Ernest Drevenak and Veronika Bubencikova where they are believed to have kept their slaves in Upper Cambourne, Cambridgeshire
Dirty old mattresses and other possessions are seen in the cramped bedroomÂ
The bathroom in the home where vulnerable men are believed to have been kept as slavesÂ
The house where Ernest Drevenak and Veronika Bubencikova kept their slaves
It was revealed this week that they had secured jobs for six of their victims at a McDonald’s outlet in Caxton Gibbet, Cambridgeshire, around two miles away from their home.
The men were regularly forced to work 12 to 16 hour shifts at the restaurant and had their wages paid into bank accounts controlled by the couple.
They ended up being paid between £40 and £120 in cash every fortnight while the couple pocketed the bulk of their wages to fund their own luxury lifestyle.
Drevenak and Bubncikova are now serving lengthy prison sentences after being convicted of modern slavery offences.
Painter and decorator Frank Lethorn, 51, who is the new tenant of the house gave a guided tour to MailOnline, showing the cramped room where the men are thought to have slept.
He said: ‘It’s crazy to think that six blokes were sleeping in this tiny room. The floor must have been covered in mattresses.
‘Before I moved in around six-months-ago, the housing people told me there had been some problems with the previous tenants.
‘I thought it must have been drug dealing or something. When I moved in over a couple of days I had about five or six people come up and ask me if I was the new tenant.
Ernest Drevenak (pictured)Â forced the men to share a tiny room in their modern semi-detached housing association home
Veronika Bubencikova (pictured) also forced the men to share a tiny room in the semi-detached houseÂ
Jason Langford, who remembers Ernest Drevenak and Veronika Bubencikova living in the house
Frank Lethorn, the new tenant of the house where Ernest Drevenak and Veronika Bubencikova kept their slaves
Mr Lethorn showing the cramped room where the vulnerable men are thought to have sleptÂ
‘When I said that I was, they would say, ‘Thank goodness for that’. They told me there had been all sorts of issues including an incident where someone had run down the road with a machete.
‘I only found about the slavery issue a couple of months ago when I came home to find a BBC crew filming outside and they told me about it.
‘I can’t believe that people were treated like that. It must have been terrible’.
Samantha Langford, 47, who lives nearby said: ‘We have lived here around 13 years. The couple who lived in the house arrived after us.
‘They always said hello and seemed friendly enough. At first it was just them and their son.
‘But then we began to see lots of people coming and going. I did think to myself, ‘Where the hell are they all going?’
‘I just assumed at the time that they were all part of the same extended family, and that they were looking after family members.
‘We were totally oblivious about the guys living there being slaves.’
A gang forced 16 human trafficking victims to work at a McDonald’s branch and a bread factory, a probe has found – including two (pictured) who have waived their anonymity
Two brothers Ernest and Zdenek Drevenak have been convicted for leading the slavery gang
In footage revealed by the Met Police, rooms in London were packed out with enormous amounts of furnitureÂ
Some of the victims were even forced to live in an unheated, leaking out buildingÂ
Convicted slave gang ringleader Ernest Drevenak (left) has posted photos on his Facebook account of him and friends enjoying life on the beach
Mr Lethorn, the new tenant of the house where Ernest Drevenak and Veronika Bubencikova kept their slaves
The McDonald’s at Caxton Gibbet, Cambridgeshire, where the slaves were forced to work
Mrs Langford’s husband Jason, 41, added: ‘The couple seemed to move out a few years ago, but then they kept coming back.
‘There was an old guy living there, and he kept smoking and coughing out of the bathroom window.’
Another nearby resident who asked not to be named said: ‘The woman who lived next door had serious problems with them.
‘The people in the house would often be smoking cannabis and the fumes from the weed would come wafting into her house.
‘There would also be nuisance from smoke caused by them having bonfires and barbecues in the back garden.’
Shop worker Janet Filby who lives opposite, said: ‘They kept themselves to themselves, but I often saw people going in and out.
‘I get up for work at 4am, and I would see people moving around and heading off from there.
‘When the couple first moved in, I went round a couple of times for a cup of tea, but there was no sign then that they had loads of people living there then.
‘Over the years, I saw more people there coming and going. I thought it was weird, but I never really got involved,
The McDonald’s at Caxton Gibbet, Cambridgeshire, where the slaves workedÂ
‘When I first heard what had been going on, I was a bit shocked. This is a lovely area. It is a beautiful place to live.’
Mother-of-four Clare Oneka, 42, who also lives opposite, said: ‘Our kitchen sink is right by our window, and I would see the woman in the house always sitting at her kitchen table.
‘We never had any issues with them. They would always say hello. I just remember all these people kept coming in and out. There always seemed to be men there.
‘We used to make comments at the time, wondering how they all managed to fit into the house.’
Mrs Oneka’s husband David, 46, said: ‘We had no idea what was going on. We helped them jumpstart a car once aa it had a flat battery.’
The victims who became slaves for Drevenak and Bubncikova were initially either homeless, unemployed or in very low paid jobs in the Czech Republic.
They were approached individually by associates of the couple, and promised work, accommodation and a better life in the UK.
The associates put the victims in contact with Drevenak and helped to arrange transport to the UK.
When each of the victims arrived, Drevenak and Bubencikova helped them to get jobs at the McDonald’s beside the A428 road at Caxton Gibbet.
The bedroom in the home of Ernest Drevenak and Veronika Bubencikova where they are believed to have kept their slaves
The men spoke little or no English, but the couple helped with filling in forms, completing online tests and the interview process.
All wages were paid into either bank accounts belonging to the couple or those they had control over.
Cambridgeshire Police said the men were provided with accommodation at various overcrowded properties, including the couple’s home ‘where six shared a single room’
At one time, seven men, including the five victims, were staying in a two-bedroom park home near Cambridge.
When the victims were not working at McDonalds, they were forced to perform tasks such as cleaning, decorating and gardening for the couple.
Drevenak and Bubencikova also fraudulently applied for working tax credits and child tax credits in the names of the victims despite there being no children.
In one instance, they fabricated the names of six children and claimed one of the victims had become responsible for all of them.
It is estimated they stole at least £200,000 from the men over a four-year period which helped fund their luxury lifestyle, paying for cars, holidays and chunky gold jewellery
Cambridgeshire Police said received information that workers at the McDonald’s were being exploited in October 2019.
Specialist officers from the modern slavery team spoke to the victims at the restaurant on October 23.
Four of the men chose to leave with the police. This was shortly followed by the fifth victim, and later a sixth.
All went through the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) process, which ensures victims of modern slavery are provided with support and protection.
An investigation into the exploitation took place, with the couple being arrested and their home searched.
Drevenak and Bubencikova denied six counts of holding a person in slavery or servitude, five counts of arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation and fraud by false representation.
They were found guilty last October following a trial at Cambridge Crown Court.
Drevenak, of Howard Avenue, Bedford, was jailed for 12-and-a-half years in December and Bubencikova, of Upper Cambourne, was jailed for ten-and-a-half years.
Reporting restrictions preventing the reporting of the case have only just been lifted.
Detective Constable Nick Webber of Cambridgeshire Police said: ‘his case goes to show that sadly slavery can happen anywhere.
‘Drevenak and Bubencikova preyed on vulnerable people in the Czech Republic who were down on their luck.
‘The idea of work and accommodation in the UK was the dream they were sold – something they didn’t feel they could turn down.
‘Drevenak and Bubencikova pretended to befriend the victims and acted as though they were doing them a favour, while all the time stealing thousands of pounds from them.
Their crimes will have a significant and long-lasting impact on the victims.
‘We have been working closely with McDonalds during this investigation. When they recognised the loophole that allowed these offences to take place, they put measures in place to prevent it happening again, and have provided significant support when relocating the victims.
‘We need people to be aware of the signs of modern slavery and report any concerns they have. Please review the information on our website; taking action could help someone out of a desperate situation.
‘I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who supported this investigation. We are fortunate to have a Specialist Victim Care Co-ordinator dedicated to modern slavery who has been integral.
‘The support they have given the victims during the investigation and throughout the trial has been vital.’
The investigation which led to the couple being jailed is featured in the BBC1 documentary Slavery on the High Street due to be broadcast at 8.30pm on Monday.Â
