'Crime gang spent £54k on advertising brothels'
A CRIME gang behind an alleged UK-wide vice ring spent more than £50,000 on advertising brothels in Belfast, a court heard yesterday.
They placed newspaper adverts claiming “hot A-Level students, 18-plus” were available in the city as part of a suspected human trafficking and prostitution racket, police said.
Another 10,000 was spent in four months, using a so-called company credit card, on travel costs for members of the Glasgow-based gang, women and transsexuals being brought to Belfast to work in the sex trade, it was claimed.
One of two alleged victims, a foreign national, claimed to have been sold to those suspected of being in charge.
The gang was said to have operated brothels in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Cardiff and Belfast.
Details were disclosed as two men and two women appeared on charges following a series of raids in Belfast last Friday.
Malcolm McNeill, 46, of Forest Avenue, Hamilton, Lanarkshire; Ashleigh Beuken, 21, from Argyle Street, Lanarkshire; and Stephen Craig, 33, of Albert Road, Clydebank are accused of trafficking, controlling prostitution for gain, brothel keeping and converting criminal property.
Yvonne Dawson, 22, if Tambowie Cottages, Milngavie, Glasgow, is charged with controlling prostitution.
All four, who were remanded in custody, were arrested during a UK-wide operation aimed at recovering the victims of sexual exploitation.
A detective inspector who said he could connect them with the charges told Belfast Magistrates’ Court one alleged victim was found during searches carried out at premises in the city in July.
Another, identified as Witness B, was sold to the gang in Glasgow and then brought to Belfast, it was claimed.
Thousands of phone calls made by Craig on a mobile allegedly used to control the business were studied, the court heard.
Police claimed 35 flights in Belfast were made in the last four months, with a credit card in a fictitious name used in payments.
The detective said in the last year 54,000 had been spent on the gang’s advertising budget.
McNeill, a coach driver, was the public front of the gang, police claimed, with a good credit history which enabled them to rent properties.
It was claimed others would carry out viewings before he was flown in to sign tenancy agreements.
But a defence solicitor claimed McNeill had been used as “a patsy” by others.
“It’s his bank account and his credit card used in these properties. He wasn’t aware of any of this.”
Dawson was alleged to have viewed properties with a view to them being used as brothels.
Her lawyer told the court she had fully co-operated with police and claimed to have been an “independent escort”.
A solicitor for Beuken told the court she did not accept any of the allegations against her.
She was remanded in custody until later this week when she is expected to apply for bail.
Both Dawson and McNeill were denied bail and remanded until next month, along with Craig, who did not seek to be released.
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Monday 13 February 2012
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