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Legal victory for brothel owner
THE OWNER and staff of a Sheffield brothel cannot be prosecuted because police were well aware sex was for sale and chose to do nothing about it, a top judge ruled.
Judge Simon Lawler QC found police had led sauna owners and staff to believe they would not get in trouble as long as they followed certain ground-rules.
And three years after a massive high-profile police swoop on the Omega sauna on Attercliffe Road, Sheffield, and a raid on Winston's sauna in Leeds, involving hundreds of officers, the judge ruled all charges relating to prostitution against 13 people were unfair.
Charges of living off the earnings of prostitution faced by Omega owner John Elsworth, aged, who bought the sauna for 177,000 after winning the Lottery in 2002, were thrown out by the judge.
The final bill for the police operation and following legal proceedings is believed to total more than 1 million.
During an extraordinary three week hearing at Sheffield Crown Court many of the force's most senior officers were brought into the witness box and quizzed on police attitudes to prostitution.
The Omega is just 150 yards from Attercliffe police regular station and the judge was told every officer knew sex was for sale there.
But the force turned a blind eye with officers making visits and following a policy of 'stick to the rules and we won't trouble you' as long as the premises were free of underage girls, illegal workers, drugs and drink.
Judge Lawler said: "It must, at the very least, have created in the minds of the sauna operators over several years a reasonable and legitimate expectation that their activities were at best tolerated and they would not be prosecuted, providing they abided by the rules."
Operation Rampart was launched five years ago and jointly targeted Sheffield's Omega and Leeds' Winston's in 2004.
The move was sparked by intelligence that illegal immigrants were working there – but despite the operation attracting nationwide attention no evidence was ever found to back up the allegations.
Solicitor Sandra Mullan, for nine of the 13 defendants who faced charges following the raid, said police had known the business had been operating as a brothel for many years, made regular visits and gave the clear message that if owners stuck within the rules they would avoid prosecution.
She said: "I think police forces around the country are clearly adopting a very similar approach to the police in Sheffield and they are now going to have to seriously think about how they approach the management of saunas."
After the ruling the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed it would not be in the public interest to appeal the judge's ruling.
But a spokesman added the judge's decision did not establish any precedent for future cases.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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