A LITHUANIAN brought in to the country to work for Swindon charity boss Nerijus Gudelevicius told a jury dogs are treated better than he and his colleagues were.

Deivadas Daucinas, 23, said he came over from the Holland with his pregnant girlfriend as they tried to find work to raise cash for their impending family.

But he said they were placed in substandard accommodation and found the promises of good wages made in an online ad and over the phone were not true.

And he told the jury that the boss took everyone's passports to make it impossible for them to run away when they found out what they had to do.

Gudelevicius, of Melrose Close, Westlea, is on trial having denied two counts of people trafficking and four of requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour.

Giving evidence through an interpreter at Swindon Crown Court, Mr Daucinas said: "It was like you can earn some money in a short period of time. But it wasn't like that.

"It was completely the opposite. The house was like you couldn't call a home. You wouldn't call that job a job.

"The money that was promised: it wasn't there. The advert said it was £400 or £500, maybe more."

Asked about the work by Barnaby Shaw, prosecuting, he said: "People would be picked up early in the morning.

"The back of the minibus would be opened where there were some bags with some clothing and the bags that you would have to distribute.

"The door would be closed and we start moving. It is night time so we can't see anything. It was driven fast and people were just inside moving all round.

"Here in England people treat dogs better than we were treated.

"When we arrived at our place, we stopped. The doors opened. We were given maps according to our names.

"No matter what the weather is like, whether it is raining, we left there at 6pm in the evening. It is night time, it is cold and no one is bothered. He needs the bags to be delivered."

He said half an hour after he first arrived at the house in Hunt Street he had to hand over his passport, though he didn't know why.

"We had to give it to the defendant for unclear reasons because he would need passports from all the people," he said.

"Now I understand why they were taken, the passports. So people wouldn't run away. Because as soon as they see the situation, their working conditions, if a person has a little bit of a brain I don't think they would want to stay."

He said his partner needed her passport back so she could register with a GP but he only got his back when the police became involved.

The defendant insists he only asked for a deposit because he was providing a home and it could have been anything of value, though most people only had ID documents.

Gudelevicius denies all the charges and the case continues.