Iryna and David now live in a coach house owned by John Caudwell, with Modesta Vzesniauskaite and their son William

Iryna and David now live in a coach house owned by John Caudwell, with Modesta Vzesniauskaite and their son William

ANDREW FOX FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES

Hugo Daniel

Sunday May 15 2022, 12.01am BST, The Sunday Times

When Iryna and her four-year-old son David got on a train to their new home in the UK last month, they had no idea what it would look like.

The pair had left the Lyiv region of western Ukraine the day after war broke out and were staying with a Ukrainian friend in her small home in Romford, Essex, when they were put in touch with a man called John Caudwell.