Three convicted of conspiring to run brothel

03/12/2009

Today at Stafford Crown Court Robert Worrall, Sandra Williams, and Simon Worrall were convicted of conspiring together with Philip Kilday to set up and run a brothel, Philip Kilday had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

The initial conspiracy between Sandra Williams and Philip Kilday resulted in a brothel being established at premises in Sash Street, Stafford. When that operation was thwarted by the police, Robert Worrall and Sandra Williams concentrated their efforts in setting up a similar but larger scale brothel in Henrietta Street, Birmingham together with the assistance of Robert Worrall's son Simon.

Celia Thorpe, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS Staffordshire, said:

"We have been involved with this case from the outset, working closely with the police prior to the defendants being arrested, charged and leading up to the trial.

The evidence gathered revealed that the defendants intended a sophisticated operation in Sash Court and Henrietta Street working to the kind of business models that one would expect to be found within a legitimate company. It could be therefore misconstrued that this is a "victimless crime". That is not the case at all.

The defendants' activities were illegal, and although there does not appear to have been coercion of the women recruited to work in the brothels, the defendants still benefited from their sexual exploitation.

In addition the defendants' actions had a detrimental impact upon the local community. The Sash Court address is a newly completed block of flats intended for residential use only; the stream of unknown male visitors generated a number of complaints from the public who were understandably concerned about the activities being conducted in their locality. We hope the local community in Sash Street are satisfied that the police acted quickly and effectively to close down the brothel that had been operating there, and that the development has now been returned to its respectable residential use.

This conviction will serve as a deterrent to others seeking to profit from prostitution. The Prosecution will now seek to seize assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act"