TWO men found guilty of trafficking a woman and forcing her into prostitution have been sentenced to a total of nine years behind bars between them.

Tomasz Slabaszewski, of Whitworth Road, and Jacek Sokolowski, of Ascham Road, Grange Park, were found guilty in January of trafficking a person with intent to cause her to work as a prostitute and controlling, or inciting, a person to work as a prostitute for financial gain.

Appearing before Swindon Crown Court yesterday, 33-year-old Slabaszewski was ordered to serve two years in prison Sokolowski, 43, who was also found guilty of rape, was sentenced to seven years.

Judge Euan Ambrose said: “She (the victim) responded to an advert that had been placed by you on the internet.

“She had telephone conversations about the nature of the work with you.

“She asked specifically whether it involved sex and she was assured it didn’t.”

But the victim called police in a distressed state on the morning of June 13, 2009, saying she was being held against her will at a house in Whitworth Road, Pinehurst.

Officers were dispatched to the address and found the 30-year-old woman, who told them she had only entered the UK from Poland on June 2.

Since arriving at the address she had been forced to work as a prostitute.

“The offer of the job, the invitation, and the arrangements to come here were made by both of you together and in full knowledge that you intended her to work as a prostitute when she got here,” said Judge Ambrose.

“She came willingly, however, she had been deceived.”

The court heard that Slabaszewski had taken on the property in Whitworth Road with the initial intention of sharing it with friends from Poland.

But when they backed out of the plan he, Sokolowski and a woman who was working as a prostitute turned the house into a brothel.

The morning after the victim arrived she was raped by Sokolowski, who told her he needed to ‘test her out’, the court heard.

“You were somebody to who she looked, as she did to your co-defendant, for assistance and support,” said Judge Ambrose.

“She had come to the UK to live and work for you and live in accommodation you provided.”

The court heard that a profile was created for her on the internet and she had encounters with men in exchange for money.

“She made it clear it wasn’t what she wanted to do but despite that you persisted in making it clear that that was what was expected of her,” he said.

“She was a vulnerable individual.

“She was alone in a town she didn’t know.”

Slabaszewski was sentenced to 18 months and two years for the two offences, to be served concurrently, minus the 179 days already served in custody.

Sokolowski was sentenced to 18 months and two years to run concurrently, and five years for the rape to run consecutively, minus the 216 days already served.