**Update: Tessa Jowell MP has now confirmed that the property in question is in her constituency of Dulwich and West Norwood.
The house of the elderly Lambeth couple, who were arrested yesterday for allegedly holding three women as slaves for up to 30 years, was subjected to a 12-hour search with 55 bags containing 2,500 exhibits seized, a Scotland Yard commander said.
The suspects were arrested on suspicion of forced labour, domestic servitude and immigration offences.
They were released on bail yesterday, as the case will take a long time, commander Steve Rodhouse said.
He added that the three rescued women had painted a “disturbing picture” of their experiences.
It was also revealed that the couple had been retained in the 1970s, although the reason remains unknown.
The Metropolitan Police’s entire specialist team, which consist of 37 policemen, is working on the case
When the story emerged yesterday, many responded with outrage.
Tessa Jowell, MP for Dulwich and West Norwood, said she woke up three times last night thinking about it, calling it “profoundly disturbing”.
Jowell wondered on BBC London 94.4: “How can this happen? Whose failure is it?”
“Or is it that parts of our city are so disconnected from each other that people live their lives and nobody notices or has the confidence or sense of obligational responsibility to ask questions about things that seem strange? These are the questions I find myself asking time and time again.”
Lambeth’s top policeman, chief superintendent Matt Bell, said: “It’s amazing and shocking that sort of thing could go on in modern society, let alone right under our noses here.”
Brixton Blog reader Ela Bargiel commented: “It took them ridiculously long to discover their case. I’m so outraged.”
actually, the police didn’t discover their case, one of the enslaved women contacted a charity organisation.
actually, the police didn’t discover their case, one of the women contacted a charity organisation.
Why took it so long until they arrested the elderly couple? Why so few information? Why don`t they tell us which nationality the slave holders have? Why there no pictures of the house. And most disturbing: Why isn`t it allowed to write online comments on that case? Most newspapers have blocked their comment section. Freedom of information?