Women forced to have sex with '8 men a day' in horror UK prostitution ring

A couple who forced two young women who had been trafficked to the UK to have sex with "six to eight" clients per day have been jailed.

Costel Tambac, 50, and Marianna Iova, 35, took mobile phones and identity documents from women they forced to work for them after they had been trafficked from Romania, Leeds Crown Court heard today (Friday, November 7).

Prosecutor Connor Quinn told the court that one woman, aged 19, was put on a minibus to Britain in 2016 after receiving a message on Facebook from someone offering work. Another, who was 25 at the time, was put in the vehicle by a man she believed to have been in a relationship with.

"The minibus took the two women to the defendants' home in Wolverhampton," he said, adding that upon arrival, "cash was paid by Tambac to the trafficker who delivered them".

"In a sign of things to come, he asked the first girl whether she had bought pretty dresses to impress the clients with and broke her mobile phones.

"Ms Iova then took possession of the other girl's identity card. There were already young women present at the defendants' home and those two were told to work there as prostitutes alongside these women.

"They were threatened and Costel Tambac was particularly aggressive. From this point onwards, the defendants would slap and punch them on a daily basis," Mr Quinn said.

The court was told the women were forced to have sexual activity with "six to eight clients" a day, and would be moved by the couple multiple times, residing in Leeds, Nottingham, Oldham and Liverpool.

It was said the girls would live in a separate area in the properties to Tambac and Iova and their young son.

Mr Quinn said Tambac also drove the women to visit clients out of the house. "The money paid for the services was handed straight to the defendants. The girls saw very little of this revenue themselves. They were given next to nothing by the defendants," he said.

Iova paid £30,000 for advertisements for the girls working for her on websites over the course of the offending, the court heard.

The adresses were visited by police but the defendants "controlled what the women told [officers]", Mr Quinn said.

However, it was said that one of the victims managed to escape from the couple's clutches, helped by a client, as reported by LeedsLive.

While under investigation in 2018, Tambac and Iova fled Britain, and officers sought international arrest warrants for the pair. They were arrested in Amsterdam earlier this year before being extradited back to the UK.

Tambac and Iova, both Romanian nationals, were later found guilty by a jury of two counts of sexual exploitation of a female victim contrary to the Modern Slavery Act 2015, and two counts of controlling prostitution for gain contrary to Section 53 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

Mitigating on Tambac's behalf, his lawyer Mu'Min Iran Muhammad Hashim said the victims had keys to the property, which allowed one of them to escape. "In the others' evidence, the court may recall that she confirmed she had been in sex work prior to coming to th UK. She had a phone. When you say that they didn't. they did," he said.

"When the police had opportunities with both of them alone, help was not taken. Evidence also suggest that at various times they did have access to their identity documents and mobile phones for communication. There are aspects of the evidence that they could have asked for assistance, but they didn't."

Dhaneshwar Sharma, who was defending Iova said: "You are aware that she and Costel Tambac have a young child together...The consequences of them being incarcerated is that the young child is now absent of both parents...In my submission, it can't be downplayed the significant impact that will happen to a young child who has the absence of both parents.

"She is from a part of Romania where the socio-economic circumstances are often difficult, but all the more difficult for women, because they are still treated as second-class citizens. Given her lack of formal education, the behaviour that she displayed during the operation, is something that she doesn't have an insight into. You may take the view that having read the pre-sentence report, whereby she continues to maintain her innocence, which is her right if she so wishes, it clearly is reflective of her lack of education and insight into the offending. Her issue is she has always made her own money from her own work."

Mr Dhaneshwar also told the court that there was no "medical evidence" or "phone evidence" of any injuries. "When the authorities attended the address, there was no suggestion by anyone that they noticed any injuries... She herself was a sex worker," he said.

His Honour Judge Stubbs jailed Tambac for nine years and Iova for eight years at Leeds Crown Court today. He said if the pair are not deported once they have served their custodial sentence, they will be on licence in the community. Judge Stubbs also made them the subject of a slavery and trafficking protection order.

In comments outside the court following the sentencing, Senior Investigating Officer Detective Superintendent Helen Steele at West Yorkshire Police, said: "First and foremost, my thoughts go out to the victims who suffered an horrendous ordeal. They were brought over to the UK under false pretences by organised criminals where they were sold as a commodity to be financially and sexually exploited through controlled prostitution.

"I hope the guilty verdicts together with the sentences handed down today will bring them some comfort as they continue with the process of rebuilding their lives. I would also like to thank them for their bravery, their patience and their resilience as we pursued our investigation.

"Our investigation was complex and began nine years ago when one of the victims came forward. It was the first ever investigation for West Yorkshire Police to conduct as a Joint Investigation Team with the Romanian authorities, who I would also like to thank as it meant we could maximise all investigational opportunities.