A Romanian man who offered his countrymen the dream of a better life in the UK, only to enslave them using threats and violence, is facing jail.

David Lupu, 29, lured a group of Romanian nationals to Britain with the promise of work for £50 a day and accommodation included.

But, Lupu exploited the workers, only paying them a fraction of the wages they were expecting to receive, confiscating their ID papers and cramming them into a one bedroom flat in Leyton.

He was convicted of multiple offences of holding a person in slavery or servitude on Thursday, after a trial at Inner London Crown Court.

Seven Romanian men described being offered the jobs in July last year, but found themselves forced to share the tiny flat with up to 14 other people once they arrived.

The men slept wherever they could in the kitchen, bedroom, a hallway and a storage cupboard, sometimes on mattresses they had found in the street, while Lupu himself enjoyed spacious conditions in an upstairs flat of his own.

Lupu ate good food, but bought cheap, low quality food for the others, leaving them gaunt and dishevelled, the court heard.

They were only allowed out of the house two at a time, and warned they would be arrested by police if discovered.

The men were also told they owed hundreds of pounds in rent and other exaggerated costs and were forced to work long hours in the demolition industry to repay the money.

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

The men were forced to sleep wherever they could find space inside the tiny flat

Lupu refused to pay the men a lawful wage despite the fact he was being paid sizeable fees for the building site work and have made profits if he had chosen to.

When the men discovered what Lupu was doing, he punched one of the group and told them he would beat them to death if they insisted on being paid before repaying their fabricated debts.

He later relented, giving them each £50, the only money they ever received.

Two of the men finally sought help at Forest Gate police station in September last year after, while Lupu was briefly out of the country.

When he returned, Lupu threatened to break the legs of the others and attack their families in Romania in a bid to keep them under control.

David Davies, of the London CPS Complex Casework Unit, said:  “After promising these men the chance to earn a wage they could never earn in Romania, David Lupu exploited them and treated them like slaves out of sheer greed.

“Although these victims were not physically restrained, once Lupu had taken their IDs away, they were controlled and intimidated with violence, threats and the false hope they would eventually be paid.”

Lupu is due to be sentenced on Friday at Inner London Crown Court.