TWO Polish women were left stranded in Scotland penniless and homeless in an online scam.

Joanna Cieslak and Pawel Janicki had answered an advert promising a new life in this country.

They flew over and paid £500 to an unknown woman who met them on their arrival.

She and Lucas Zylinski drove them to what they thought was their new home in Glasgow's South Side.

But when the women got out at the flat, Zylinski and his accomplice sped off, leaving the frightened pair stranded.

Zylinski, a Pole, faces a lengthy jail term after he admitted fraud and theft at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

The court heard Polish citizens were being lured to Scotland on false pretences.

Miss Cieslak, 31, and Miss Janicki, 32, responded to an advert on a Polish website offering them the chance to come to Scotland and be housed for an agreed fee.

On August 19 they flew into Prestwick Airport from Warsaw and met another Polish woman.

They paid the stranger £250 each for accommodation and put their luggage into a car driven by Zylinski, 24, and were taken to Dixon Avenue in Govanhill.

They got out of the car and Zylinski and the other woman drove off, taking the women's suitcases, a laptop computer and a quantity of food.

The women - who spoke little English - were stranded.

A Polish man helped them contact police and the registration on Zylinski's car was picked up on CCTV. He and the car were found in Monkton Road, Prestwick.

Zylinski was arrested but told officers: "I don't know these people."

The £500 the women paid or their belongings - valued at £750 - were never recovered.

Wioletta Stepien, 27, was also charged with being involved in the scam but her not guilty pleas were accepted.

She did admit escaping from Gartnavel Hospital after being remanded there for a mental health assessment.

The pair were remanded in custody and the case was adjourned until later this month.