A mother who helped create a huge ring of prostitution by smuggling women into Britain bragged about how “brilliant” she was before she was imprisoned. Catherine Cojocaru, 37, and boyfriend Jamie Dunn, 42, raised £ 250,000 to exploit vulnerable women for sex in brothels in the Midlands, including Nottingham.
He introduced smuggled prostitutes to the UK and told them to “look pretty” as the shameless couple lived a luxurious lifestyle after working with other members of their own family to bring in sex workers, reports The Mirror. The group arranged for Romanian women to live mainly in their home countries, forcing them to engage in off-street prostitution in brothels in the Midlands.
A court heard that Dunn and Cojocaru began operations in Northampton before expanding to Nottingham and Birmingham and soon minted £ 20,000 a month. Dunn placed online ads on a sex worker website to attract customers and was also responsible for stocking up on properties that would be used as brothels.
READ MORE: Carlton Emmerdale actor James Hooton backs controversial anti-vaxx claims on Twitter
Cojocaru got women from Europe to travel to the UK as sex workers and would do the day to day operations. A court was told he wanted women to “look their best” and, when asked for semi-nude photos, told them to “look sexy” and put on make-up.
Police recovered lists and text messages showing Cojocaru acting as the “boss” of sex workers, keeping in daily contact with them and keeping records of daily catches. Evidence showed that this amount was up to £ 1,640 per day, of which the band took 50 per cent of each woman between November 2015 and January 2017.
One day, when seven women earned £ 900, he wrote at the end of the diary, “F ** k-me, I’m great.” Dunn’s older father, Martin Dunn, 74, also took part in the plot, as did Cojocaru’s brother Andrei Cojocaru, 26. Dunn Snr paid for plane tickets for women coming to the Kingdom. Together, it would help them pick them up at airports and even fund hotels and services. apartments.
Andrei Cojocaru was found with 12 mobile phones, seven of which had the names of the sex workers written on the back because he knew what reservation was for which woman. He would relate to customers and direct them to the property, as well as recharge cell phones and pick up trafficked women from airports.
Dunn has been brought to justice after police attacked (Image: Northamptonshire Police / SWNS)
Dunn and Cojocaru, who lived in the village of Lower Harlestone, Northampton, where house prices average £ 900,000, were charged with trafficking in women in the UK. Both pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to organize or facilitate another person’s journey to the United Kingdom for the purpose of being exploited for prostitution.
Dunn was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison while Cojocaru was jailed for three years and nine months in Northampton Crown Court. Judge Rebecca Crane said: “You exploited the work of others for a substantial financial gain and the business would have continued if it had not been for the police intervention.”
Martin Dunn, of Northampton, received a 12-month, 100-hour unpaid community order to acquire criminal property after collecting a large sum of money after a home sale. Andrei Cojocaru, also from Northampton, was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for 14 months plus 150 hours of unpaid work for conspiring to control prostitution for profit.
The convictions, which were part of Operation Eton, were the first modern charges of slavery and human trafficking insured by Northamptonshire police. Detective Inspector Carrie Powers said: “This was a very complex and lengthy investigation, but I am very happy that through it, we were able to secure the first charges of force under current slavery legislation and get results. guilty of all four offenses.
“This organized crime gang exploited vulnerable women with the false promise of a better life in the UK. Instead, they were forced to have sex with a large number of men without regard to their rights or their welfare.
“These women worked long hours, only for the band to take a large chunk of their income which would then be used to fund luxury lifestyles. Investigating such cases can be complex, but Northamptonshire police are absolutely committed to tackling modern slavery and bringing to justice those who exploit vulnerable members of our community. “
Read more related articles Read more related articles