Gravesend Roma gypsy gang who trafficked vulnerable women to sell to Asian men appear in Old Bailey for sentencing

The six Slovakian nationals trafficked at least four poverty-stricken or mentally ill women from Kosice between January and May 2013, and offered them to Indian and Pakistani men who wanted EU citizenship to remain in the UK.

The money-making scheme was smashed after one of the women was brutally raped by the Pakistani man to whom she had just been "sold" in March 2013.

Paramedics were called to the home of a Whipps Cross Hospital security guard in Walthamstow, east London, to treat the 27-year-old who was bleeding heavily.

While in hospital, she told authorities she was a victim of rape and people trafficking, sparking a major police investigation. Officers were led to Abbey Road in Gravesend, and the Suchy family.

Tibor Suchy (above), 29, his wife Viktoria Sanova, 29, and his brother-in-law Rene Sana, 31, were jailed for a combined 14 years in December 2013 - after being found guilty of selling the woman for £4,500.

They later pleaded guilty to trafficking three more women, ahead of the 13-week trial of Roman Ziga, 26, known as "Romeo", his brother Jozef Ziga, 28, and Igor Boros, 43 - heard at the Old Bailey last summer.

Following this trial, the Ziga brothers and Boros were found guilty of recruiting four women in their home country in August. Roman Ziga was cleared of charges in relation to one of the women.

All six Roma gang members are due to be sentenced tomorrow.

Viktoria Sanova

During the trial, prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones QC described the operation as a "machine".

She told the Old Bailey: "This group would find women who were for some reason desperate or destitute, or both, and would make the arrangements for them to come or be brought to the UK."

Ms Karmy-Jones told how one of the women was recruited by Jozef Ziga in Slovakia in January 2013 on the promise of fruit-picking work.

But when the 29-year-old arrived in the UK she was forced into prostitution and then sold to an Indian man for £3,000 before making her escape.

Rene Sana

Another of the victims came from a good background but had some mental health issues, the court was told.

The 23-year-old fell in with a man who introduced her to drugs and the Ziga brothers.

When she arrived in the UK, her identity card was taken and she was passed to a Pakistani man to be his wife.

She too managed to run away and return home to Slovakia with help from her family.

The fourth victim was 29 and pregnant when she arrived in the UK, so efforts to marry her off or force her into prostitution failed.

TODAY'S TOP STORIES: