Hannah Debenham, 42, of Uckfield, East Sussex, who took in a Ukrainian refugee, has been accused of modern slavery after being asked to help her do more washing up. She was under investigation for two months after the allegations before the case was dropped this week when no evidence was found.
The refugee mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, complained to police saying she “had to clean and tidy up the house for little or no money under the guise of the Ukrainian resettlement scheme,” the police report said.
“We just wanted to help. If I was charged, I would have had to plead and it would have been a permanent obstacle to my career. They also spoke to my husband and told him that if I was found guilty, I could face life in prison. worst experience of my life,” Hannah Debenham told the Daily Mail.
He added that his solicitor described the actions of Sussex Police as an “outrageous abuse of rights”.
The Ukrainian family had only been living with Hannah Debenham for three weeks when the allegation was made.
The saga begins when Hannah and her husband are looking for a housekeeper to work in their house. They come across the profile of a 30-year-old Ukrainian woman who claims to be an English teacher and contact her about her.
According to Hannah, they reached an agreement which allowed the teacher and her ten-year-old daughter to stay with them on the condition that she babysit two or three days a week, for which she would be paid £200.
“The first few weeks were great, but they didn’t clean themselves up and the amount of dishes to wash quickly doubled. I explained to her that she needed to help her more, we even showed her how to use the dishwasher.” recalls Hannah.
The mums fell out after Ms Debenham was unable to take her guest on a date as she worked from home.
“He slammed the door and I was like, ‘Wow, how can he treat me like this?’ I can’t always drive it.”
Things come to a head when the Ukrainian mother takes Hannah’s five-year-old son along to visit a nearby school.
When the boy told her he needed the toilet, she told him to use the open area by cleaning herself with a leaf.
“She was shocked that I was upset and said she wouldn’t tell me if she knew I would react this way. I felt I could no longer fully trust her with my children and we decided the deal wasn’t right.” the more it suits us”, commented the mother.
Just a few days later, Hannah says her Ukrainian host called her while she was at work and told her she was leaving. A few minutes later, police officers arrived at Hannah’s home and asked to speak to her. They said she was accused of slavery.
The police report said the Ukrainian mother said she was forced to work most days, take care of the children and would have to clean and tidy the house.
She was allegedly used as a full-time slave and nanny for little or no pay under the guise of helping her with the Ukrainian settlement program.
No charges were ever brought against Hannah Debenham as the police found no evidence to support the allegation.
“Since arriving in the UK and while living with us, I think we and the local school have given them more than they need. We have provided a school for her daughter, the school has provided a full time teaching assistant just for her daughter like her did not speak English We organized playdates to help her daughter settle in school, we took them on trips to the park and beach, barbecues with friends, we encouraged her mother to get a local job to help her rebuild his own future. But in return, he put me under a lot of stress.”
