Woman jailed for turning relative into a slave

LONDON, Nov 7 (Reuters) A British woman was sentenced to seven years in jail yesterday for keeping her sister-in-law as a domestic slave, forcing her to do housework naked and beating her savagely.

Antonia Pearson-Gaballonie stabbed Veronica Sandeman with scissors and made her beg for food for several years.

Pearson-Gaballonie, 35, of York, was found guilty at York Crown Court in September of false imprisonment, making threats to kill and six counts of assault causing actual bodily harm between 2002 and 2004. She had denied the charges.

Pearson-Gaballonie, a mother of six, also claimed 10,000 pounds of disability benefits on behalf of her victim, claiming that Sandeman had a severe learning disability.

Sandeman, now 26, was 17 when she first moved into Pearson-Gaballonie's household when the defendant was married to her brother.

Pearson-Gaballonie's current partner, Neil Pearson, 35, was sentenced to two years after being found guilty of one count of aiding and abetting an assault. He had also denied the charges.

REUTERS PDM HS0924