A wealthy couple tied up and imprisoned their maid after the wife launched a plot to pay her to sleep with her husband so she could divorce him, a court has heard.
Zekri Gris, 56, a businessman, hired the woman as a cleaner and childminder for his four children. But his wife, Dina, 35, offered her £200 to have sex with her husband and record it – so she could have evidence of infidelity to use against him in a divorce.
The plot failed and Mr Gris, who owns shops including newsagents and post offices, accused the maid, Niressa De-Vincente, of stealing money from him, Bristol crown court was told on Wednesday.
He and his wife, who have four sons aged between five and 10 and are Egyptian nationals, tied her up in their £650,000 home in Bishop Sutton, Somerset, with a rope and handcuffs.
They threatened her with a knife to make her “confess” to stealing £12,000 – and filmed the 36-hour ordeal. After three days the maid wriggled free and used the rope to climb out of a window.
Mr Gris pleaded guilty to one count of false imprisonment and was jailed for three years on Tuesday. Mrs Gris admitted the same charge in December and will be sentenced at a later date.
The court was told that De-Vincente, a 36-year-old Filipina, started working for the couple after her student visa had expired.
Ian Penny, prosecuting, said: “Without a large number of Filipino carers the care system would fail. She overstayed and became an illegal immigrant.
“Many illegal immigrants are vulnerable and exploited, whether they are stuck in Calais or crossing the ocean in an inflatable dingy or fall into the clutches of the defendant and his wife.”
Video footage taken by Mrs Gris shows the victim sitting on a chair and trussed up with a blue clothesline while her husband shouts at her, accusing her of stealing money. The victim can be seen weeping, with her head bowed.
Penny said: “The video footage paints a disturbing and unattractive picture. It was just a snippet of an ordeal that lasted many, many hours.
“Mr Gris had been in this country long enough to know that it’s unacceptable to truss someone up like a chicken, berate them, assault them and terrify them. He had a knife and he would use that knife to stab the table next to her. He said he would kill her and chop her into pieces like a cow.”
