'Gangsters raped teenage sex slave'
Published Date: 27 September 2008
By Paul Grinnell
A TEENAGE "sex slave" sobbed as she told a court how she was raped and beaten after being forced to work as a prostitute by Eastern European gangsters.
The girl was just 16 when she was tricked into travelling to the UK for a job in a Peterborough pub, jurors were told.
Now 18, the Slovakian victim told Southwark Crown Court she was a virgin when an Albanian pimp raped her and sent her to work in a sleazy west London brothel.
She was later "bought" by various men and ended up working in Mellows Sauna, in Bedford Road, Luton.
The girl's 16-month ordeal began when Edward Facuna (54), of St Mary's Court, Peterborough, a friend of her mother, told her he could get her a good job in Britain, it is said.
He and co-defendant Roman Pacan (39), of Parliament Street, Peterborough, drove the teenager through Germany, Holland and France to Dover.
The two deny trafficking a person into the UK for purposes of sexual exploitation.
The court heard the Slovakian teenager was taken to Peterborough, in September 2006, where she was passed from Facuna and Pacan to a man known only as "Claude".
Sobbing, she told the court: "He started touching me all over my body.
I said stop but he started more and more.”
The man then raped her, the court heard.
Within days he drove her to Ealing, west London, where she was made to work in a brothel.
Also in the dock are Turks Ali Arslan (43), his brother-in-law Mesut Arslan (26), Kosovan Martin Doci (29), and Albanian Valmir Gjetja (29), who “shared a common greed at the expense of vulnerable women”, the court heard.
Ali and Mesut Arslan also face charges in relation to a 22-year-old mother from Lithuania who was also forced to work in a second brothel in Clapton, east London, it is claimed.
The girl said her ordeal continued when after a few weeks she was “bought”by Doci.
He then introduced her to the Arslans, who allegedly ran Mellows Sauna.
When she arrived, Doci ordered her not to tell Ali Arslan – also known as Alex – who has admitted to running two brothels, her age.
The teenager told the jury she began to work as a prostitute at the sauna after a few days in the hope she would be able to send money home to her mother.
It is alleged that after three months of working at the sauna, she was “grabbed and drugged” by the final defendant Gjetja, who she knew as Mario.
Prosecutor Jeremy Dunn-Shaw said not only did he force her to work as a prostitute, but repeatedly beat her, wounded her with a knife and bottle and finally held a gun to her head.
The terrified teenager finally managed to escape, but on January 11 this year, Gjetja tracked her down and proceeded to attack her, it is alleged.
She managed to dial 999 and was set free, the court was told.
Ali Arslan, of Newnton Close, Stamford Hill, north London, earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of keeping a brothel used for prostitution between February 1 and April 26, 2005, in regards to Cricketfield Road, in Clapton, east London and between September 1, 2006 and December 14, 2007 in relation to Mellows Sauna, in Bedford Road, Luton.
Ali Arslan faces a separate charge of controlling prostitution for gain.
Mesut Arslan, of Harrowgate Road, in Upton, east London, denies two counts of keeping a brothel used for prostitution between February 1 and April 26, 2005, in regards to Cricketfield Road, in Clapton, east London; and between September 1, 2006 and December 14, 2007 in relation to Mellows Sauna, in Bedford Road, Luton, Beds.
Ali and Mesut Arslan are jointly charged with, and both deny, trafficking within the UK for purposes of sexual exploitation.
They, with Martin Doci, of Vale Road, Upton are also accused of controlling a child prostitute.
Doci is also accused of trafficking within the UK for purposes of sexual exploitation.
Facuna and Pacan are accused of trafficking a person into the UK for purposes of sexual exploitation.
Gjetja, of Avon Road, Greenford, west London, is accused of controlling prostitution for gain, three counts of unlawful wounding, ABH and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
The trial continues.
http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/39Gangsters-raped-teenage-sex-slave39.4533505.jp