Child smugglers in court

11:21am Friday 16th May 2008

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A COUPLE from West Drayton found guilty of illegally bringing a teenager into the UK are due to be sentenced today.

Samuel and Ernestina Quainoo pleaded guilty to smuggling a 13-year-old childminder into the UK after falsely claiming she was their daughter.

The Quainoos are a married couple who lived separately between 2003 and 2004, with Samuel living in West Drayton and Ernestina living in Ghana.

The couple had a baby who lived with Ernestina, 37, in Ghana. The couple engaged a 13-year-old to act as an unpaid childminder for them.

Samuel, 59, wrote to the British High Commission in March 2004 requesting he be allowed to bring his family to the UK.

In the letter he stated his family included his wife and baby, and the 13-year-old.

The 13-year-old was forced by the Quainoos to come to the UK with false documents, despite her not wanting to leave her family in Ghana.

She was told a job and education would be arranged for her.

But after arriving, the girl was not allowed to go to school and was kept in the house by the Quainoos for around two years.

In May 2006, she fled the house and went to Hillingdon social services, who informed the Met's Paladin team, a partnership of police and immigration officers who specialise in protecting children from child trafficking.

The couple are due to appear for sentencing at Isleworth Crown Court today.