27 brothels raided in N Ireland

[KeenPunter]

Sounds more like a TV drama than real life, some people just enjoy the drama

[Redpunter]

Hi guys I had a bit of online abuse lately , it was more than abuse really it involved threats of violence towards myself.
It was reported to PC Plod who duly arrived at my home, asked me had I been in contact online or by social media with the offending person. I had not and told them so. After taking a statement they left telling me they would investigate and keep in touch.

About two hours later they returned with what I could only describe as an oversize phone. They attached this device to my phone and then my iPad and immediately told me it had confirmed that I indeed had made no contact with the offending party through my two devices, they then went on to tell me the threats had been made from an IP address in a town in the Irish Republic.

So my friends the moral of the story is that we all can be tracked and traced by our little electronic devices that we can't conduct our lives without anymore. We as punters are leaving a trail of information behind us every time we text,contact or speak to an SP

PS. The offending party has been located by his IP address and a prosecution has been recommended so Big Brother is really watching you. 

[pussylover76]

Sorry to hear this Red. Hope you are ok.
In regards to mobiles and devices all you have said is correct and more.
CCTV & vehicle movements are monitored too.
As much of a hindrance that this is, it is also to keep people safe, which I hope happens in your case.

[Lambeth19]

Hi guys I had a bit of online abuse lately , it was more than abuse really it involved threats of violence towards myself.
It was reported to PC Plod who duly arrived at my home, asked me had I been in contact online or by social media with the offending person. I had not and told them so. After taking a statement they left telling me they would investigate and keep in touch.

About two hours later they returned with what I could only describe as an oversize phone. They attached this device to my phone and then my iPad and immediately told me it had confirmed that I indeed had made no contact with the offending party through my two devices, they then went on to tell me the threats had been made from an IP address in a town in the Irish Republic.

So my friends the moral of the story is that we all can be tracked and traced by our little electronic devices that we can't conduct our lives without anymore. We as punters are leaving a trail of information behind us every time we text,contact or speak to an SP

PS. The offending party has been located by his IP address and a prosecution has been recommended so Big Brother is really watching you. 

Not good Red, hope you ok!

A good VPN use can’t be emphasised enough to protect your privacy.

[vityaz]

Not good Red, hope you ok!

A good VPN use can’t be emphasised enough to protect your privacy.

Quite right and reassuring to know that I'm not the only one who knows of such matters, but i've found I can't log on here while my VPN is activated

[scutty brown]

Not good Red, hope you ok!

A good VPN use can’t be emphasised enough to protect your privacy.

Trying to use a VPN with this site has resulted in bans in the past

[Peken]

Do you know why scutty? surely getting banned for wanting to remain private online is harsh & esp in this environment you wouldn’t want your info harvested.

[scutty brown]

I hope you all have punting phones, but even that may not be enough if they use co-location tracking

External Link/Members Only

Buying sex has been a criminal offence in Northern Ireland since 2015 and the PSNI confirmed to the News Letter this week that they have made over 76 related arrests for the offence since it went onto the statute books.

Last week 150 PSNI officers raided 27 brothels across NI as part of a nine-month operation spanning the British Isles. Police said many of the suspected trafficking victims involved were originally from Brazil, and were "exploited" in brothels in Newry, Armagh, Dungannon, Omagh, Cookstown, Londonderry, Coleraine, Belfast, Aughnacloy, Ballymena and Portrush.

Following the raids, the News Letter asked the PSNI if it planned to analyze the mobile phones seized in the operations to see who had been booking appointments with them.

Detective Chief Inspector Ciara Mullan, from Organised Crime Branch replied that they are now analysing the mobiles.

“A number of mobile devices were seized as part of the action against an organised crime group responsible for trafficking people into and around Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland," she said. "These are currently being examined."

There have been 76 arrests for offences of Paying for Sexual Services since the legislation was introduced in June 2015, she said.

She confirmed that one 51-year-old man was arrested at one of the brothels on suspicion of paying for sexual services, and was granted bail to return at a later date.


It was not unusual that only one suspected buyer was arrested, as the raids took place at 9:30am, police said.

Former PSNI ACC Alan McQuillan told the News Letter that customers of the 27 brothels may now be concerned about being subject to police investigation.

"Some of them, with all the publicity, may now be frightened," he said. "All their mobile numbers and text messages will be uploaded to PSNI systems.

"Detectives will be looking at all of that and seeing who these people are and what they were doing. Some of them may have blocked their numbers when calling the brothels, but the PSNI has the ability to get their phone records despite this. And the PSNI will want to know where those calls came from."

If the police focussed more on seeking high profile convictions of the customer base for sex trafficking victims, it could have a significant impact on the business model, he suggests.

"It might make the punters think again, which is the whole purpose of the legislation."

And this in turn would impact on the income of the crime gangs controlling them, he says.

"We know most prostution in Northern Ireland is controlled by organised criminals such as UVF, UDA, INLA / Real IRA.”

He adds: "Overall, for me personally, the best strategy is to rescue these women who are trafficked into this, as they have the most hellish life."

But likening their plight to victims of serious domestic abuse, he adds that “the [police] focus should be on the customers as well”.

He does not believe it would be “particularly” resource intensive to prosecute 40 to 50 customers per year, he added.

For those people arrested for the purchase of sex it could cause significant employment problems, he says.

Such cases may be disposed of with criminal convictions, cautions or even Community Resolution Notices (CRN), the PSNI said.
But he points out that according to PSNI guidance, even the CRN, the least serious disposal method, "may be subject to disclosure as part of an enhanced criminal record check or security clearance...".
Mr McQuillan said having a conviction for buying sex, or even a caution or CRN, could pose significant difficulties in trying to secure employment, especially if working with children or vulnerable adults.
This could be a particular problem in the civil service, police, social work, education, leisure services or the health service, he said.

He believes that only a small number of women in the sex trade are there of their own free will.
"For most women going into this it is the last choice they have."
"There is a business model here with women at the top end who are bascially prostitutes for a very high remuneration with rich individuals."
They are there of their own free will, he says.

But he believes the overwhelming bulk of the sex trade is controlled by organised crime gangs.
"But below that top tier I don't think there is a particularly strong middle ground before you get into the heavyweight organised crime brothels."
He recalls working with the PSNI when leading a probe into brothels in Belfast as Chief Executive of the Assets Recovery Agency.
The brothels, which were mainly in Belfast, were all controlled by a man in a call centre in England who held all the mobile phones.

All advertising and rentals were organised from this centre. The women were mainly from eastern Europe.
"The women could open the door of the brothels in Belfast at any time and walk out," he said. "But they had no clothes other than what they worked in.
"They had very little money and very little English. And they had no contacts in Northern Ireland to offer them any sort of help."
DCI Ciara Mullan, from Organised Crime Branch said detectives in the Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Unit will continue to prioritise its resources to safeguard victims.

“Sexual exploitation is often an unseen crime,” she said. Furthermore, many victims can be afraid to speak out or may be under coercive control.
"However, for some people who are subject to this kind of exploitation, they may not think of themselves as victims. They may be vulnerable and have been manipulated into having sex for money, often controlled and
coerced into passing over some of the profits to another person who ultimately lines their pockets.
“While the sale of sex in itself is not a crime in Northern Ireland, it is a criminal offence to purchase sex. Anyone paying for sexual services is committing a crime.”

She said there have been 76 arrests for offences of Paying for Sexual Services since the legislation was introduced in June 2015.
However she added that other buyers who were arrested and street bailed or dealt with by other means - such as community resolution notice - will not be included in those 76 arrests.
Belfast High Court heard yesterday that 20 potential human trafficking victims were identified in the PSNI raids.
A crown lawyer said there are "another 20 potential escorts who have been identified, but they are difficult to pin down given their transient lifestyle"

Meanwhile, the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (PONI) recently arrested a PSNI officer on suspicion of paying for sex, as well as a list of other suspected offences.
PONI said the matter was referred to it by the PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne.
A PONI spokeswoman said: "A police officer was arrested in Belfast on Tuesday (3 November) on suspicion of committing the offence of misconduct in public office for alleged abuse of position for sexual purposes, unauthorised access to PSNI Computer systems contrary to Section 1 & 2 of the Computer Misuse Act and paying for sexual services contrary to Article 64(A) Sexual Offences (NI) Order. Our investigation is on-going."
She added: "The Chief Constable may refer any matter to the Ombudsman which appears to him to indicate that a member of the police force may have committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner which would justify disciplinary proceedings and is not the subject of a complaint. The Chief Constable can exercise this discretion where it appears to him to be in the public interest

[pussylover76]

"It might make the punters think again, which is the whole purpose of the legislation."

It certainly makes it incredibly difficult for anyone to report trafficking. 

[scutty brown]

"It might make the punters think again, which is the whole purpose of the legislation."

It certainly makes it incredibly difficult for anyone to report trafficking. 

true, but I suspect the number of reports from punters in Ireland was negligible anyway

[senordingdongs]

I hope you all have punting phones, but even that may not be enough if they use co-location tracking

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I’ve studied these cases for years and 76 arrests in 7 years and now suddenly they are going to be snooping through WG phones arresting thousands of men for sending texts. In an interview with a journalist last year a local WG said had 5000 client contacts on her phone, another said she had 10000.

Even on the odd occasion an arrest and charge reaches court even the judges don’t believe in the law, this from a recent case :-

District Judge Ted Magill asked a solicitor for the Public Prosecution Service to "explain to me how it is a criminal offence for two adults to engage in paid for consensual sexual activity? They both engaged in it - he's arrested and spends the night in custody and she's not".

[Bryan11]

Here's the report, my opinion is that the law as it stands in Northern Ireland is an ass, it protects nobody.

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Excellent report, it was an effort but i read all 177 pages