Abstracts: May 2005

03-May-05
Freedom for Thai sex slave women
According to this article:

Police raided a Sutton brothel in April 2005 following complaints from residents.  They rescued Thai women who had been illegally brought into the country as sex slaves and uncovered information about a sophisticated prostitution gang. The girls were stripped of passports and threatened.

Two male customers caught during the raid were released without charge.  At their request, the women were deported to their home countries within two days.  The day after the raid, the brothel was again operating and again raided, uncovering another Thai prostitute and "maid".  The brothel was then sealed and posters were put up in the area warning customers. CO14, the Metropolitan Police clubs and vice unit, has become involved in the case.

• "Freedom for Thai sex slave women". icSurreyOnline. May 3, 2005.
  http://icsurreyonline.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news
  /0200surreyheadlines/tm_objectid=15471797&method
  =full&siteid=53340&headline=freedom-for-thai-
  sex-slave-women-name_page.html

04-May-05
Council chief jailed for sex crimes against girl, 14

Brent
Keith Gosling, former director of highways and emergency
planning at Brent Council, found guilty of unlawful sexual intercourse with 14 yr. old girl, taking and distributing an indecent photo of her and procuring her to become a prostitute. Sentenced to four and a half years.  Posted photos taken with his cell photo onto a website.

• Pennink, Emily. " Council chief jailed for sex crimes against girl, 14" The Scotsman
  http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4505123

05-May-05
A year on, EU's eastern frontier holds up
According to this article:

Despite fears that borders would prove porous to organised crime, smuggled drugs, cigarettes and the trafficking of illegal immigrants and sex slaves, law enforcement officials say the EU's 1,865 mile -long eastern frontier has held up well.

• http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=
  reutersEdgeNews&storyID=721623

08-May-05
Sex trade set to be audited
According to this article:

The Central Statistic Office (CSO) will begin measuring the economic output of prostitution and the illegal sex industry in Ireland from 2006 forward.  This will bring Ireland in line with European Commission regulations.  The CSO already includes an estimate of  €100 million for the value of smuggled illegal drugs but does not estimate the street value of the illegal activities.

Eurostat, the European Commission's statistics office designed the initiative to harmonise income and economic growth figures across Europe.  Wealth figures of EU states will be calculated retrospectively, going back 3 years, and will be used to assess how much member states are required to pay towards the EU budget.  Some member states have questioned the necessity of the exercise and others have highlighted the practical difficulties in compiling the figures.

• Quinn, Eamon. "Sex trade set to be audited" Sunday Business Post May 8, 2005 http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqid
  =4666-qqqx=1.asp

09-May-05
The people traffickers
According to this article:

In 2004, eleven trafficking cases were heard in Lithuanian courts.  Another three have begun since January 2005, three connected with Britain. Authorities believe native gangs are recruiting and organising the trafficking of women into the UK.  Upon arrival the girls are sold to other gangs, particularly Albanians.   The girls are young, but most are over the age of 18 due to the heavier punishments for trafficking children. The maximum penalty in Lithuania for trafficking adults is eight years jail, for trafficking children it is ten years. There are reports about a 12 year old victim.  Lithuanian authorities are working closely with British and other European police to gather intelligence on the trafficking gangs as well as to encourage victims to come forward.

Reda Sirgediene, Interpol's chief officer in Lithuania said many of the women come from rural areas where education is lower and unemployment is higher.  She explained that the girls meet "friends" who tell them they can make good money abroad.  These "friends" are men who look for women in the country and approach them on the street with offers to work in the UK.  The recruiters tend to be good-looking men in their early 20s.  They sometimes say they are studying in London, or are sportsmen traveling to Britain for competition or training.  When they arrive in the UK there are "people waiting".  Sirgediene said that many of the girls she sees have been raped, beaten and threatened and are brainwashed into thinking foreign police cannot be trusted.  Some attempt to contact authorities but are hindered by the language barrier and are beaten for their escape attempts.

International trafficking gangs have "earmarked Britain as an easy option" due to its booming sex trade and the high prices paid for sex.  Since joining the EU in May 2004, Lithuania has become a major source country.  A senior Lithuanian police officer told the Yorkshire Post that between 15 and 20 victims are trafficked into the UK each month.  Traffickers get three times more for their victims in the UK than in Germany. With EU passports the traffickers have now linked with the well-established Albanian gangs in Britain.

Grahame Maxwell, South Yorkshire Police's deputy chief constable and the Association of Chief Police Officers' lead on human trafficking said that the intelligence gaps are vast and accurate figures on trafficking victims unavailable.  The European Commission estimates 500,000 victims are trafficked into Europe annually. UN figures indicate profits of £3.6bn. Albania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, Ukraine, Russian Federation and Lithuania are the main source countries.

Under Operation Reflex, £2.5m was provided to South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Humberside to combat trafficking and 65 convictions related to trafficking or smuggling resulted nationally. Three suspected members of a Lithuanian gang were arrested, another South Yorkshire investigation resulted in a further three suspected traffickers arrested and inquiries continue after the Sheffield and Leeds raids in the summer of 2004. In West Yorkshire a Chinese woman was charged with trafficking last week.

Quote:
"We are dealing with people in extremely frightening situations. "They have come to a foreign country, don't necessarily speak English or any common European language, they are probably quite fearful of approaching the police, they have probably been told not to trust the police or that harm will come to their families in their home country if they do." ~Grahame Maxwell

New laws, the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 provide a maximum 14-year jail sentences for trafficking. There is a lack of social services for trafficked victims; child victims are cared for by social services and the 25 bed Poppy Project in London is the only safe house for adult victims. Anita Tiessen deputy director of UNICEF UK said that a change was needed in the response from social services, police and immigration and that the central Government needs to give guidance and support.

Trafficking cases successfully prosecuted in British courts in the last six months: (See articles elsewhere on this website.)

• Luan Plakici, Albanian
• Taulant Merdanaj, Albanian
• Elidon Bregu, Albanian
• Vullnet Ismailaj, Albanian

The article then gives a detailed description of 16 year old trafficking victim "Elena"; interviewed in Lithuania by the Yorkshire Post.

(Out of respect for Elena's ordeal it will not be abstracted here.  Please read the original article.)

• Stratton, Maggie. "The people traffickers" Yorkshire Post Today May 9, 2005.
  http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2
  .aspx?SectionID=55&ArticleID=1021086

10-May-05
Prostitute murder hunt launched
According to this article:

Prostitute Emma Caldwell, 27, was found by a dog walker on Sunday May 8th.  An appeal has been made by police to find her killer.  Emma turned to heroin and prostitution following the death of her older sister from cancer.

• http://icscotland.icnetwork.co.uk/news/scottish/tm_objectid
  =15500594&method=full&siteid=50141&headline=
  prostitute-murder-hunt-launched-name_page.html

10-May-05
Police Launch 'Prostitute' Murder Hunt
According to this article:

Murdered prostitute, Emma Caldwell disappeared in April after leaving a women's hostel in Glasgow.  She was last seen walking alone toward Victoria Road around 11 pm on April 4.  Her body was dumped in a woodland near Biggar, South Lanarkshire and discovered on May 8.  A murder inquiry was launched on May 9th and Det. Supt. Willie Johnston said inquiries were at a very early stage although an incident room was set up after her disappearance.

Caldwell was from a "good and strong family background" and was a former horse riding teacher.  She began using heroin after a death in the family.  She is believed to be the eighth Glasgow prostitute murdered since 1991.

• Sheerin, Jude "Police Launch 'Prostitute' Murder Hunt" The Scotsman / Scottish Press Association. 10 May 2005
  http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4533102

11-May-05
Tragedy led to spiral of despair and death
According to this article:

Emma Caldwell had turned to prostitution and heroin use after the death of her sister Karen from cancer.  Her family was aware of her addiction to heroin and despite their best efforts could not draw her away.  According to police, her addiction led her to the other matters in her lifestyle. Inquiries into Emma's death are at an early stage and CCTV tapes from sites around the Biggar area are being studied. 

Although Emma is the eight prostitute to be murdered in Glasgow since the early '90s, police insist the deaths are not linked.  there has been constant speculation that a serial killer could be responsible for some of the killings. Diane McInally (23) was murdered in 1991, Karen McGregor (26) in 1993, Leona McGovern and Marjorie Roberts (34) in 1995, and Margo Lafferty (27) in 1998.  (Note: the other prostitutes murdered were not named in this article.)

• McDougall, Dan. "Tragedy led to spiral of despair and death" The Scotsman. May 11, 2005.
  http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=508292005

11-May-05
Mary-Ann: two 'significant' arrests

Reading
Police raided the 263 Club, a massage parlour brothel on Oxford St. in Reading as part of investigation into murder of Mary-Ann Leneghan. Mary-Ann was injected with heroin, raped, stabbed and dumped in a park. Police believe the massage parlour and a flat above were linked to the killing.  (Note: Articles regarding Mary-Ann are included due to police inquiry into massage parlour possibly linked to case. To date there have been no news articles claiming she worked as a prostitute.)

• http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4505123

12-May-05
Austria smashes human-trafficking ring
According to this article:

Austrian authorities said they have smashed a major human trafficking ring allegedly led by Romanian, Moldovan and Ukrainian criminals who smuggled more than 5,000 eastern Europeans to the west in the past few years.

• http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.
  asp?j=142744022&p=y4z7447z8

13-May-05
Last time call girl was seen alive

Glasgow
Prostitute Emma Caldwell murdered.  Body found in woodland. Believed to be eighth prostitute murdered in Glasgow since 1991.

• The Herald. Iain Wilson & Damien Henderson
  http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/39205.html

13-May-05
Alley lead in Emma killing

Glasgow
Prostitute Emma Caldwell murdered.  Body found in woodland. Believed to be eighth prostitute murdered in Glasgow since 1991.

• http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=
  15507231&method=full&siteid=89488&headline=alley-lead-in-emma-killing-name_page.html

14-May-05
She lived in fear for her life

Glasgow
Prostitute Emma Caldwell's murder.  Daily Record provided info to police regarding black-cab driver allegedly obsessed with Emma.

• http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=15515387
  &method=full&siteid=89488&headline=she-lived-i-in-fear-for-her-life---he-was-a-a-man-possessed-name_page.html

16-May-05
Human traffickers make US$32 billion profit

Profits of an estimated US$32 billion were made by human traffickers in 2004 according to an International Labour Organisation report on forced labour released on May 11.

• http://allafrica.com/stories/200505170811.html

May 23, 2005
Home Office will not sign anti-trafficking accord
According to this article:

Amnesty International, Anti-Slavery International, the National Federation of Women's Institutes and Unicef UK called on the British government to ratify the Council of Europe's anti-trafficking convention that became open for adoption this week.  It obliges signatory states to provide safe housing, medical treatment and legal aid, even if victims refuse to co-operate in criminal investigations.

A Home Office spokeswoman said the government will not sign the convention because certain provisions present difficulties for the UK and that the UK already has the discretion to grant reflection periods and residence permits on a case-by-case basis. The Government also claims that measures in the convention encourage people traffickers and could place more victims at risk.

Currently, the only government supported program for victims of trafficking is the Poppy Project.  The Poppy Project requires victims to agree to co-operate to in criminal investigations or prosecutions of traffickers and has only 25 beds.  Some 1,400 women are estimated to be victims of trafficking for prostitution in the UK.

The executive director of Unicef UK, David Bull, said the convention would oblige the Government to provide specialist care and protection to trafficked children who currently live in constant fear and are under treat of harm to themselves and their families.  He added that this was "to our lasting disgrace" not available in the UK.

• "Home Office will not sign anti-trafficking accord". Charity News.
  http://www.britishcharities.com/newsreader.php?ann=839

16-May-05
Six in court on Mary-Ann murder charge

Reading
Mary-Ann Leneghan: Kidnap, murder & attempted murder charges against: Michael Johnson, 18, Llewellyn Adams, 23, Adrian Thomas, 19, Indrit Krasniqi, 18 and Jamaile Morally, 21 (also charged with rape.)

• http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type
  =topNews&storyID=2005-05-19T090827Z_01_MOL903597_RTRUKOC_0_CRIME-BRITAIN-LENEGHAN.xml

25-May-05
£12,000-a-week madam found guilty
According to this article:

Ann O'Brien, 32, originally from Kenya, was found guilty of three counts of controlling prostitutes between Oct. 2003 & April 2004. At one point O'Brien was earning £12,000 per week. She advertised the "Marble Arch Girls" agency and "Nancy's Escort Visiting and Massage Service." 200,000 telephone box cards were found in her room.  Sentencing is scheduled for June 22.  The judge said he will consider sentencing her to community service.  She will also face a confiscation hearing regarding her 27 bank accounts and £1.25m brothel.  She reportedly profited £1.6m since 1997.

• "£12,000-a-week madam found guilty" BBC News. May 25, 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/
  london/4580671.stm

May 27, 2005
Brothel empire made millions
According to this article:

Brothel madam, Ann O'Brien, 32, was convicted at Southwark Crown Court of four counts of controlling prostitution and is due to be sentenced on June 22. Prosecutors announced they will try to recover her profits. She was the lynchpin in a trafficking trade involving hundreds of women from eastern Europe.  Police say they do not know how many women passed through her hands but that a number of pimps took their girls to her. 

In 2003, police started collecting O'Brien's calling cards from telephone booths in Mayfair advertising "stunning Polish models" and undertook an undercover operation that found her working the women in three shifts per day with up to 15 working at a time and managing up to 40 prostitutes from her Mayfair townhouse. Clients were charged at least £150 per visit, the girls earning about £10 per customer and O'Brien profiting the rest.  She set up a second brothel in Maylebone and laundered money through a Kilburn hair salon and two bona fide firms, hiding her £1.6million profit.  She had 29 different bank accounts.

In April 2004, police raided her brothels and arrested O'Brien. Police say that a high percentage of the girls were illegal immigrants and had been brought to the UK by organised crime gangs.

O'Brien was a market stall holder in a rural Kenyan village but borrowed money from relatives to travel to Ireland.  She married Irishman Patrick O'Brien and obtained an EU passport.  The O'Briens moved to London and she began working as a prostitute.

• Finegold, Oliver and Justin Davenport "Brothel empire made millions" Evening Standard. May 27, 2005.
  http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/
  londonnews/articles/18915043?source=Evening Standard

29-May-05
New legislation to combat trafficking in immigrants
According to this article:

Michael McDowell, Irish Minister for Justice, is drafting legislation that will criminalise trafficking in foreign nationals for the purpose of their sexual and labour exploitation.  The laws will conform with a 2004 EU Council framework decision dealing with the “recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring and subsequent reception'‘ of immigrant workers and will apply to traffickers who use “coercion, force or threat'‘ in the smuggling of foreign workers. This provides for a minimum sentence of eight years' imprisonment for smugglers who endanger the life of the victim or in cases of sexual exploitation of victims under 18.

The EU convention seeks to protect victims “without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status'‘.

Efforts to combat people trafficking in ireland have resulted in a number of practical measures and policies. The Garda
National Immigration Bureau (GNIB), which was established in 2000, spearheads investigations. Bureau members have attended courses organised by Europol and the European Police College and attend regular conferences in Europe.

The Department of Justice indicates that approximately 6,000 people are currently evading deportation orders. About 430 people are currently reporting to GNIB to make travel
and escort arrangements for their deportation. People from Nigeria, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and South Africa represented 47 per cent of all asylum applications.

Under the new arrangements, the time for processing applications to the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner will be reduced from six weeks to about three weeks. The time for follow-up appeals to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal will be reduced from five weeks to three weeks.

• O'Kelly, Barry "New legislation to combat trafficking in immigrants" Sunday Business Post. May 29, 2005.
  http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-
  qqqid=5227-qqqx=1.asp