An Ealing couple, who enslaved a teenage boy in their home for 24 years, made him feel "trapped and depressed", driving him to contemplate suicide.

NHS workers Emmanuel Edet, 61, and his wife Antan, 58, were each sentenced to six years in prison on Monday (December 7) for making Ofonime Sunday Inuk carry out gruelling work at their home in Perivale for nearly a quarter of a century.

The pair were sentenced at Harrow Crown Court on three counts: cruelty to a child under the age of 16, carrying three years imprisonment, servitude, carrying six years imprisonment and assisting illegal immigration into a member state, carrying one year imprisonment.

The sentences were made concurrent, meaning they will be served alongside one another, and the couple will serve half of the six years in prison.

Mr Inuk, now in his 30s, was brought to the UK when he was 13 years old, and was used as a "house boy" to carry out unpaid labour sometimes for 17 hours a day.

Caroline Carberry, prosecuting, said: "As a result he suffered low self esteem interacting with others.

"Feeling sad, trapped, alone and depressed. He saw no future. He thought about suicide."

Her request for the duo to pay compensation was, "with reluctance", rejected by the judge despite the prosecution arguing that Mr Edet has funds of more than £5,000 available to him and a property in Nigeria worth around £25,000.

Despite the length of time the boy was kept in servitude, the act making servitude a criminal offence only came into affect in 2010, meaning the sentence only applied to the final three years of this charge.

However, the judge said he considered the full length of time when issuing the sentence.

The court heard how Inuk thought he would be paid and educated, but the couple controlled all aspects of his everyday life including what he wore to who he could contact.

The defendants wore a flat, expressionless gaze as they were sentenced. The time they have already spent in custody, plus 257 days attributable to a qualifying curfew, will be deducted from their time behind bars.

Mr Edet was a hospital doctor and also worked for the Surrey County Council. Mrs Edet was a qualified hospital midwife.

Sentencing, the judge told the pair: "He was led to believe he would be paid and educated.

"During this time he performed the usual tasks of a houseboy, that is cleaning, doing some cooking, washing cars and look after your two sons.

"He had to sleep on a mattress downstairs. He was not given the opportunity of following the sort of education that he wanted to follow.

"He was deterred from making contract with people outside the family.

"The most serious aspect of your behaviour towards him is that it went on for an exceptionally long period of time, robbing him of the opportunity of leading a normal life."