Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Polish women snared by sex slave trader - court

Two Polish women promised jobs in England were forced into prostitution in Leeds, a court heard.
by Rod Hopkinson
TWO Polish women promised jobs in England were forced into prostitution in Leeds, a court heard.
Grzegorz Szydlowski told the women they would be well paid working in a bar in Manchester, the jury heard.
But they were picked up at Liverpool airport, driven to Leeds and made to work in a brothel in Armley, it was alleged.
Richard Woolfall, prosecuting at Leeds Crown Court, said Szydlowski set them up in a flat in the city, giving them food and bedding. He threatened them and used violence to make them work as prostitutes.
"He made them pay him £200 a week and took other money from them when he could find it," he said.
Szydlowski, 25, of Longroyd Avenue, Beeston, Leeds, has denied two offences of bringing the two women to the UK for sexual exploitation between May and June this year.
Husband
He has also pleaded not guilty to two further offences of intentionally arranging for the women to work as prostitutes.
Mr Woolfall told a jury how one of his victims had decided with her husband to go to England to earn money.
But when she arrived in Liverpool with a woman friend, Szydlowski was waiting with a henchman and they were driven by car to a "sparsely furnished room" in Beeston, Leeds.
The women became concerned when they were not taken to do bar work and Szydlowski turned nasty, alleged Mr Woolfall.
"He told them they were going to a brothel," he said. "He was aggressive with one woman and slapped her across the face saying 'Do you think everything is so nice? You have to pay – why do you think you were coming?'"
Mr Woolfall added both women felt they had no option but to do as told, saying: "He controlled them. There was no-one they could rely on for help."
When they were taken to the massage parlour their passports were taken by the receptionist and were told to get changed.
The court heard a taxi driver who befriended them told them to go to police but they did not dare complain.
Mr Woolfall claimed Szydlowski and his friend would often shake and slap the women and also threaten the women, telling them not to run away or they would kill them.
Proceeding
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