Romanian people trafficker jailed for seven and a half years

Romanian people trafficker, 33, who forced woman, 23, into prostitution but fled UK and went on run for five years after cutting off electronic tag is jailed for seven years

• Florin Radu, 33, told his 23-year-old victim she could work in the UK as a waitress
• After meeting her in Dudley, Radu forced the woman to work as a prostitute  
• The woman managed to escape after being trapped with Radu for four months
• Radu was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison for human trafficking 

Florin Radu, 33, pictured, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years after he forced a 23-year-old woman to operate as a prostitute against her will in Greater Manchester in 2013

A Romanian criminal who fled the UK and went on the run for almost five years after he cut off his electronic tag and slipped out of Britain was returned to prison today. 

Pimp Florin Radu, 33, had been facing trial for human trafficking and assault in 2014 after he beat and forced a 23-year old woman to work as a sex slave in the UK having falsely promised her she would get work as a waitress.

The woman managed to escape Radu in November 2013 and was able to flag down a passing police car in Oldham. 

Radu was arrested the following March as he was about to board a flight back to Romania. He was granted bail on condition he wore an electronic tag. 

In December 2014 Radu cut off the tag and was able to leave Britain, evading UK Border Force officials and returned to Romania. 

In 2015 a jury in Manchester convicted Radu in his absence of trafficking for sexual exploitation, controlling a prostitute for gain and two counts of common assault.

However despite public appeals for information he remained at large until earlier this month when he was detained in Romania on a European arrest warrant and extradited back to Britain.

The father of four later claimed he had fled home to Romania because he had no job in the UK and needed to work to feed and clothe his children. He also said he was concerned his family were about to evicted from their property. He even obtained a character reference saying: ‘Florin Radu is somebody who helps you whenever you are in need.’

At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, Radu who was also convicted of failing to surrender to custody was jailed for seven and a half years. 

The woman’s ordeal began in August 2013 after she arrived in the UK with friends believing she was about to start work in a restaurant.

But after she was introduced to Radu at a rendezvous point in Dudley, near Birmingham, the victim was moved around houses and hotels in the Midlands and North West of England – including the Fallowfield, Oldham and Wigan areas of Greater Manchester. 

The woman was forced into prostitution against her will and ordered to hand over her earnings to Radu. 

The court heard the victim was forced to have sex with up to eight men a day. 

Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester, pictured, heard Radu ordered his victim to hand over all the cash she earned from being forced to work as a prostitute having sex with up to eight men a day. If she refused, Radu would physically assault the woman

Prosecutor Nigel Booth said: ‘If she refused to perform sex acts as the defendant ordered her she was subjected to violence – but when she was paid he took her money. He bought food for her sometimes showing her a receipt to show how much had been spent on food for her.

‘The defendant accompanied her everywhere and said he didn’t want her to go out of his sight. She would be given £100 and he threatened to kill her if she asked for more. The overall period was about four months during that time she was assaulted by him, he hit her and bit her, he kicked her and hit her at the house and later at hotels where he took her.

‘There was one occasion where she banged her head against a wardrobe having been struck by him. She was moved to various hotels across the country in Wigan and Wolverhampton in the Midlands. The purpose of that was so she would have sex with men earning money that Radu would take off her, she was subjected to violence in order to compel her to prostitution.

‘She was moved to an address in Fallowfield, she lived in a front room downstairs, was provided little food and a mobile phone which was used by customers to book appointments. Customers would attend the address and sexual acts took place there, Radu took the money they paid, if she refused to take part he subjected her to threats and to violence.

‘It may not be the case that she was imprisoned – the fear she felt left her in no real position to leave the address alone.’

The woman was rescued in November 2013 after she escaped from a house in Oldham and flagged down a passing police patrol car. Radu was arrested 300 miles away the following March at Luton Airport waiting to board a flight to Romania. He told police he did meet the victim when she arrived and later met her at his sister’s address in Dudley near Birmingham.

But he said he only spoke briefly with her and had met her again in ‘coincidental meetings’ they would have in hotels, he claimed to have no knowledge or involvement in her working as a prostitute or being trafficked around the UK for sex.

In mitigation defence lawyer James Gray: ‘Mr Radu maintains his innocence. The violence is of relatively low level and the period over which Mr Radu controlled the complainant is limited to a relatively short period, while it is a long period to be controlled, in the scheme of these kind of cases four months is a relatively short period.

‘He was in custody from March until September 2014 and it wasn’t as if he took the first opportunity to escape. He remained on tag until December 2014 and the reason that compelled him to cut his tag and return to Romania was that he could not work in this country.

‘He had children that he needed to keep and feed and there was a problem in his home country with his family house that for various reasons they were about to be evicted from. He now has four children and one on the way he is the sole earner for that household.’

But sentencing Judge Julie Warburton told Radu: ‘This young woman had no knowledge of this country and didn’t speak the language and had no support network. She believed she had come here to work as a waitress and no doubt believing you were assisting her but with no knowledge of what was really to follow. Rather than helping her you preyed upon her youth and vulnerability and trafficked her into prostitution.

‘She was unable to speak to or communicate with her family and was terrified that you would kill her. She was forced to have sex with men and required to work all day while you waited outside, seeing one man per hour.

‘At one stage you left her alone and she took the opportunity to flee with another female and they slept rough for a couple of days before landing in Oldham unfortunately again at a brothel. This went on for a period of four months during which you treated her like a piece of your property.

‘I bear in mind that you are the father to a young family and that they will be deprived of you for some time but these are very serious offences.’

At the time Radu was missing, Det Con Simon Hurdley of Greater Manchester Police Sexual Crime Unit said: ‘He is a predator who preyed on a vulnerable woman who believed that she was coming to the UK for a better life before he got hold of her and made her life a misery, putting her through one horrific ordeal after another.’

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