London, UK -- A Ghanaian woman who kept a personal slave locked in a cupboard for months on end has been locked up for two and half years.

Mary Tontoh, 61, from Wembley lured Elizathbeth Adone, 20, from Ghana with promises of a job and a chance to go to University, Harrow Crown Court heard.

Starved as she cooked and cleaned for two years

Instead the victim was forced to become Tontoh's personal slave. Cooking and cleaning for no wages for two years - Adone told the court how she was forced to beg for food and clothes from friends and neighbours.

She spoke of the living hell of when she was forced to sleep in a tiny cupboard, saying:

"I had the mattress in there....I could sleep...but I had to fold my legs."

Tontoh guilty

Jurors found Tontoh guilty of assisting unlawful entry and possessing a fake Nigerian passport - however, she was cleared of people trafficking.

It was also revealed that the elderly woman kept a large house in a rich suburb of the Ghanaian capital Accra and has an adopted nine-year-old son.

The victim’s immigration status is yet to be decided by the Home Office.