Sex trafficking gang jailed in Sheffield

Following a joint operation between South Yorkshire police the UK Border Agency three people have been arrested for a combined total of fifty years for their role in the false imprisonment of a teenage girl who was forced into leading a life of prostitution. The three criminals were all members of a Slovakian gang.

Two men and one female accomplice were found to have choreographed the passage of a girl of just fifteen years of age into Britain where she was made to sell herself for sex on Sheffield’s streets. The arrests and subsequent rescue of the girl only eventuated when a benevolent client called local authorities having been convinced that she was being forced into the act of offering her services for cash.

Investigations allege that the girl was made to work up to 12 hours every night, with the police and immigration crime team claiming she was making between £200 and £300 for the gang each shift. She had bedded at least 40 men at the time of the arrests.

The girl has travelled to the UK under the promise of a better life following the death of her mother earlier this year. She had been receiving between £20 and £30 for each encounter.

Jeremy Oppenheim, the UKBA regional director called the crime horrific and welcomed the tough sentences imposed on the trio stating that it shows people who break the law that there is no place they can hide. The UKBA is committed to preventing illegal practices and stopping crimes through identifying victims of trafficking gangs and tackling criminal networks.