Scotland 2005: Sex Trafficking

Scotland 2005: Sex Trafficking Also see: Scotland 2005: Prostitution
JANUARY
28-Jan-05	Probe sheriff resigns	icLanarkshire	Glasgow Scottish Sheriff Hugh Neilson resigned amid reports he had been found in sauna during a raid by police investigating the trafficking of foreign women for the sex trade. Neilson formerly presided over the pilot youth court in Hamilton. Neilson will still qualify for his pension and no criminal charges were brought against him.
29-Jan-05	Sheriff found in a sauna resigns amid ongoing investigation	The Scotsman Edward Black
FEBRUARY
13-Feb-05	Sex sauna sheriff in line for £122K job	Sunday Mail	Scottish Sheriff Hugh Neilson was interviewed for Presidency of Mental Health Tribunal.
16-Feb-05	City to host meeting on sex trade	Edinburgh Evening News	Announcement of "Unfair Trade: Prostitution and the Sex Industry in Scotland" to be held in Edinburgh on March 10. Organised by Edinburgh City Council and Zero Tolerance, the campaign opposing violence against women and children. Topics to be dealt with included tolerance zones, international trafficking and public policy.
26-Feb-05	East European vice gangs cover whole of UK	Independent Jason Bennetto	Edinburgh / Glasgow Superintendent Chris Bradford: East European prostitutes & pimps operating in every town/city in Britain
MARCH

APRIL

MAY
18-May-05	Police chief urges secret brothel crackdown	The Scotsman David Barrett	Gloucestershire chief constable Tim Brain urged full implementation of a national strategy to tackle covert prostitution in massage parlours and saunas. He said that society must have a less ambivalent position about the nature of the vice industry, which he said was "organised crime on a big scale with big profits." One operation uncovered a secret room in a massage parlour which housed 49 girls illegally trafficked into the UK. Assets of £5 million were uncovered and 15 arrests made.
JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER
02-Sep-05	New team targets people-trafficking	The Scotsman	Lothian and Borders Police squad set up to tackle immigration crime. First to concentrate solely on problem. Will be looking for people lured to Scotland on false pretences.
02-Sep-05	No-one knows how many such workers are in the country	The Scotsman	Lothian and Borders Police are trying to determine how many illegal immigrants are currently in Scotland. Assistant chief constable Tom Halpin said he suspects immigrant workers are being ruthlessly exploited in factories, as crop pickers and as prostitutes.
18-Sep-05	Disgraced sheriff admits paying for sauna	The Scotsman Richard Gray	Glasgow Hugh Neilson allegedly admitted paying for sex at sauna. Neilson found in waiting room of "sauna" during raid by police investigating sex trafficking. Neilson had been a permanent sheriff since 1996, earning £113,121 in Hamilton's children's court. He is now working for Glasgow legal firm Harper Macleod as a litigation consultant.
18-Sep-05	Grim tide of young sex slaves	Sunday Mail Billy Paterson	Police crackdown on sauna and brothel owners aimed at stamping out human trafficking from eastern Europe and Asia into Scotland's sex trade. Details about Sunday Mail investigations in 2004. Vice trade estimated at £11million.
OCTOBER
02-Oct-05	Probe launched into ‘bogus’ Scots colleges	Sunday Herald Paul Hutcheon	Police investigating "bogus" Scottish colleges possibly being used by people traffickers.
NOVEMBER
06-Nov-05	Sex-trafficked victims to be offered refuge	Sunday Herald Jenifer Johnston	Trafficked victims discovered during raids on brothels in Glasgow are to be offered 30 days “safe haven” in the city, even though the move contradicts current Home Office policy.