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Underage girls in brothel scandal |
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Crimewatch
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Published in The News of the World
22nd August 2010
POLICE fear girls as young as 14 are being forced to work as hookers by evil immigrant gangsters. They are investigating reports that Romanian girls are being imprisoned in brothels and forced into sex up to 30 times a day.
A Strathclyde Police intelligence report seen by Crime Scene says girls are being kept prisoner in tenement flats in Glasgow's Govanhill - an area now home to 14,000 immigrants. The girls have been brought to the UK by shadowy Mr Bigs running as many as half a dozen brothels in the area.
Last night one horrified police insider said:"It's quite terrifying. We're hearing stuff about girls of 14, 15 years old being used to work in the sex trade in Govanhill. They are able to come into Scotland because Romania is in the European Union and there are no restrictions on their movement.
"They come into Scotland with so-called members of their family. But these relatives are crooks, they're gangsters. Once in Scotland, we've been told that these girls are being sent to work in brothels in Govanhill. We're trying to identify the gangsters right now.
"We're paying a lot of attention to the intelligence we're receiving. A lot of resources are being thrown into Govanhill right now. These girls need our help. There could be dozens of girls in this awful situation. We believe the brothels earn their trade via word of mouth. It's sickening to think what these poor girls are being subjected to."
Romanian hoods are thought to have set up the sex shops in the last six months and now Chief Constable Stephen House has ordered the blitz. A series of crimes by incomers have seen more officers deployed in the area.
A portable police office has been set up, uniformed patrols have been increased and a pilot project called HUB launched to try to combat loutish behaviour among the area's immigrants.
It brings together the police and another 11 agencies to help solve Govanhill's problems. The scheme will also try to identify rogue landlords who have been exploiting immigrants by putting them in sub-standard housing.
"HUB also exists to gather intelligence on serious criminal elements," our source said. "Govanhill is like everywhere else - 99 per cent of the community are law-abiding individuals.
"But there are quite a few bad guys there. We're going to find out who they are and take action against them." Anti-social behaviour from Romanians ranges from low-level street crime and begging to lighting fires in the street, and even singing folk songs at unsocial hours. But there are more sinister crimes being committed as well.
Last month, a 22-year-old woman was dragged into Kingarth Lane and raped by three men of east European origin. The attackers are still being hunted.
There have also been reports of Romanian men trawling pubs in the area, attempting to lure punters outside with the offer of no-strings sex with a girl, only for unsuspecting drinkers to be robbed if they take up the offer.
This week, the French Government began a controversial programme to ship Romanian immigrants back to their home country. President Sarkozy's plans have seen immigrants PAID to leave France.
While there are no plans to take such drastic steps here, Superintendent Gillian MacDonald, the officer with overall responsibility for the area, said she and her colleagues will take a no-nonsense approach to crime problems being thrown up by the area's immigrant population.
She added: "We use every resource at our disposal. We liaise with the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency. It would be fair to say we make more use of SCDEA intelligence than other Strathclyde Police areas.
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