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A wealthy landlady who punched, kicked and verbally abused a vulnerable woman she held as a domestic slave has been jailed.
Farzana Kausar, 58, gradually ensnared Jacqueline Whittington, 60, over a period of 16 years, through a campaign of physical, verbal and psychological abuse.
Ms. Whittington was forced to work 14-hour days, cooking, cleaning and caring for Kausar’s three young children. She was not paid for the ‘years of drudgery’ and the landlady kept her benefit money.
Yesterday Kausar was sentenced to six years and eight months behind bars after a jury at Lewes Crown Court found her guilty of holding a person in slavery or servitude. Ms. Whittington remains in the care of health services.
Farzana Kausar, 58, has been jailed for more than six years after she kept a vulnerable woman as a domestic slave for 16 years.
Kausar gradually ensnared 60-year-old Jacqueline Whittington (pictured during Kausar’s sentencing) over a 16-year period through a campaign of physical, verbal and psychological abuse.
Lewes Crown Court heard how the wealthy Kausar, of Worthing, West Sussex, owned several prestigious properties in Brighton and London which she let to tenants.
Ms Whittington, a longtime alcoholic who left her husband and four children in the 1990s, met Kausar around 2004 when she was living in a Worthing flat owned by the defendant’s mother.
Mrs. Whittington was asked to do a job for the family and was taken to London to decorate a house.
But while she was there, Kausar told her that they did not want her in the Worthing flat and would instead put her up in London.
Soon after, he moved in with Kausar, her husband Mohammed Hanif, and their little daughter Isla.
Initially, she worked as a live-in maid, performing domestic chores while staying at a variety of addresses in London and Brighton.
Ms. Whittington was “forced to work inconceivably long hours” and subjected to such fear of Kausar’s anger or violence that she spent her life “stepping on eggshells”.
The victim had no employment contract and although Kausar promised to pay her for her work, the mother of four never received a salary. Instead, Kausar took full control of his victim’s finances.
Opened and withdrew money from bank accounts in his name and made benefit claims on his behalf.
The 62-year-old’s bank accounts were also used to pay bills for Kausar’s entire real-estate empire and her name was used to register Kausar’s car for disabled use, allowing her to evade road tax and park in bays for the disabled.
Kausar, who sent his daughter to the exclusive £14,000 a year Roedean Girls’ School, took the benefits from Mrs Whittington despite regularly buying her cigarettes and alcohol.
Kausar (pictured in September) received around £80,000 in benefits from Ms Whittington and would accompany her to all her medical appointments, pretending to be her caretaker. She also attacked the mother-of-four in a rage, ripping a necklace from her throat and smashing her glasses into her face, causing a laceration.
Over the years the court heard that Kausar received around £80,000 in benefits from Ms Whittington.
Kausar would also accompany Ms. Whittington to all of her medical appointments, posing as her caretaker.
Jury was told Kausar also attacked the mother-of-four in a rage, ripping a necklace from her throat and smashing her glasses into her face, causing a laceration.
The property owner once broke into a doctor’s consulting room when Ms. Whittington was in the middle of an appointment. Kausar accompanied her to all of her medical appointments, posing as her caretaker.
Police were first alerted to the callous treatment of the landlady in May 2019 when the family’s nanny, Michelle Ormiston, witnessed the “shocking” treatment of the live-in helper.
Ms. Ormiston, who had been employed to support Kausar’s family, reported that the victim was abused and appeared to be doing most of the household chores while living at the address.
Adult Social Services and the police were alerted to the situation. The agents visited the home where they found all the victim’s belongings in black garbage bags, while they forced her to sleep in the children’s room.
He did not have access to his identity documents, passports or bank cards, which were found in a locked room, along with financial documents in his name at addresses with which he had no connection.
Kausar was arrested on suspicion of modern slavery and assault, and released on conditional bail while police continued to investigate.
The victim was temporarily housed in Brighton and Hove and supported by social services, but disappeared a short time later.
Her phone numbers were disconnected, she left her GP and did not contact any of the support services.
The 62-year-old woman only resurfaced when the officer in charge of the case received a letter, purportedly from the victim, retracting her accusations and claiming that the informant had set up a trap to get Kausar into trouble.
But in May 2020, police were able to trace the victim to an address in London.
Kausar was accused of holding a person in slavery or servitude between August 2015 and May 2019.
She was also charged with attempting to pervert the course of public justice by getting Ms Whittington to drop her charges.
yesterday she He was sentenced to six years for the first charge and eight months for attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Modern slavery laws were only introduced in 2015 in response to a growing need for legislation.
Judge Christine Laing KC said during her sentencing: “No sentence I can hand down can undo the harm done to Jacqueline Whittington, restore her relationship with her own family or restore the years and years of imprisonment to live her own life.” form’.
He said the victim was a vulnerable woman who clearly had difficulties with alcohol and had a strained relationship with her own family.
Kausar forced Ms. Whittington to write the above letter in an attempt to cover up his crimes.
Judge Laing said: ‘You exploited that vulnerability and had a totally smug disregard for her as a person. You exercised more and more control over her.
He said that because she had no control over her own life, Ms Whittington became increasingly dependent on Kausar for her daily needs, leaving her imprisoned in a “life of drudgery”.
Judge Laing said Kausar regularly abused Ms Whittington, both verbally and physically.
She said: “You subjected her to regular physical violence, slapping, punching, pinching, pulling her hair and kicking.”
Judge Laing added that Kausar’s treatment of her led Ms Whittington to “consider suicide”.
‘His life has been destroyed and you have been the main part of it.’
Ryan Richter, charging, argued how the “defendant took control of Ms. Whitington’s life and isolated her so that she would become dependent on her”.
He said the violence started when Kausar threw a recycling box at him for leaving some cooked meat in the kitchen.
When the family went on vacation abroad, Mrs. Whittington would travel with them to act as a domestic help.
She told police that Kausar worked to isolate her from any contacts or friends and that she was becoming increasingly controlling. she claimed that although he possessed a mobile phone, it was often confiscated by the defendant.
And when her mother died, she only found out weeks later and the funeral had already taken place.
Mr Richter told the court: “Ms Kausar would tell you she wouldn’t last a minute if she went out alone and said, ‘At least with me you have a roof over your head.'”
She said her control led her to “years of drudgery” that was accompanied by physical, mental and financial abuse.
Mr Richter said: “Ms Whittington was verbally abused and physically beaten, slapped, kicked and punched, and was dragged across the table. A car door closed on her ankle, fracturing it.’
The court heard as a result of the case that Ms Whittington’s health had completely collapsed.
Judge Laing said that although the indictment only covered four years due to Parliamentary legislation, she could not get past the fact that control had started “many years before”.
He also recommended that Mrs Ormiston be given a High Sheriff Award of £500 for raising the alarm about Mrs Whittington’s treatment.