A man and woman convicted of supplying illegal workers to food factories in the UK have been served with the country’s first ever use of an order described as an Anti-Social Behaviour Order for rogue employers.

The couple, Sabina Gaina and Badar Hayat, reportedly made a fortune from their labour exploitation practice which saw workers packed four to a room in rented houses after they came to the UK from Eastern Europe.

The pair were given 12-month prison terms, suspended for two years, along with being served with Labour Market Enforcement Orders, also in force for two years. The orders require compliance with measures aimed at preventing further offences being committed under UK labour law. Failure to do so is a criminal offence.

The duo had each admitted an offence of acting as a gangmaster without a licence following an investigation led by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, who worked with Leicester Police and the Government Agency Intelligence Network.

The couple had joint control over five properties close to Leicester city centre which they sub-let to workers recruited from overseas.

Some of the workers claimed up to 13 people had been forced to sleep on mattresses on the floor of one three-bedroomed property. The overcrowded arrangement netted the couple nearly four times the amount of rent they were paying each month.

Gaina had first signed up for a GLAA licensed agency was sent to work at a thriving bakery in Leicester in November 2015. There she had agreed with Hayat to recruit and supply the bakery with additional staff – an activity that requires a GLAA licence.

The couple posted recruitment adverts on social media using the name Anglia Jobs. Their company offered, for a fee, to find ‘well-paid’ work in the UK and ‘good quality’ accommodation. The duo also travelled to Romania and Moldova to recruit.

At Leicester Crown Court Judge Nicholas Dean QC told the couple they had exploited people by offering them the prospect of a better life and had made a profit of between £20-£25,000.

GLAA Director of Operations Ian Waterfield commented, “This was a clear case of two ruthless opportunists spotting a chance to make a quick and substantial profit by preying on vulnerable workers.

“The serving of an LMEO is significant because it puts strict controls around Gaina and Hayat attempting to employ workers in the future,” Waterfield said. “Breaching that order is a criminal offence and the judge has said if they do, they will go to prison."