FOUR people have been charged with keeping a woman as a slave in a Stockton house.

Sakina Bibi, 67, Rabia Mobin, 27, Tariq Mahmood Siddique, 47, and Javid Iqbal, 42, denied the charge when they appeared before Teesside Magistrates on Monday.

All four are accused of knowingly holding another person in slavery between and servitude at at an address in Stockton by using “force and threat of force” between November 1, 2014 and July 30, 2015.

Iqbal, of Yarm Road, Stockton, is also charged with intentionally arranging entry into the UK for a person with a view to exploiting them.

His mother Sakina Bibi and sister Rabia Mobin, both of Osborne Road, Stockton, are also facing assault charges relating to an incident on Saturday, August 8.

Siddique, also of Osborne Road, Stockton, only faces the slavery charge.

Prosecutor Alan Davison had asked District Judge Stephen Harmes to remand the defendants in custody until the next court date, saying they had strong links with Pakistan and represented a flight risk.

But after hearing that police had confiscated their passports, Judge Harmes allowed them conditional bail.

All four must reside at their home address and were given an electronically-tagged curfew from midnight to 6am.

They must also report to Stockton police station on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays any time between 10am and 2pm.

The defendants were told that they could not apply for any travel documents, or leave the UK.

They will next appear at Teesside Crown Court on August 24.

The family members are believed to be the first people on Teesside to be charged under new anti-slavery laws which came into effect in 2010.