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Child sex gang who tried to sell girls in Knightsbridge hotel face jail
14 Sep 2010Four members of a child prostitution ring face jail today for trying to sell the virginity of young girls to wealthy Arab businessmen for up to £150,000.
The gang were caught in a Scotland Yard sting after offering their services in a letter to the owner of the Jumeirah Carlton Hotel in Knightsbridge.
A police officer contacted the gang by telephone posing as a potential client and was told they could provide girls from Iran, England and Eastern Europe aged between 14 and 20 for sex.
Mother-of-four Mahrookh Jamali, 41, from north-west London, met the officer at the Lancaster London hotel, in Bayswater Road, and said some of her girls were virgins who could be “broken” by the client.
Jamali and the officer exchanged dozens of emails over the next fortnight, some including pictures of a 14-year-old girl who police believe was used as “bait” for a potential paedophile customer.
They arranged a second meeting and Jamali said she would bring up to five girls to London, including two 13-year-olds, and said she would expect between £50,000 and £150,000 for each girl.
The next day, September 30 last year, Jamali went to the hotel with Fatima Hagnegat, 24, who had travelled from her home in Wigan, with six girls, two of whom were aged 14 and 17.
The pair were arrested and the victims said they were driven down to earn money “dancing” for a party of rich men. They only found out they may be asked to have sex with the men when they arrived.
Police searched Hagnegat's home and arrested her husband Rasoul Gholampour, 30. A third woman, Sara Bordbar, 43, of north-west London, who provided a flat to be used as a base, was also arrested.
Details of the case were disclosed by police after the four pleaded guilty at Harrow crown court yesterday.
Jamali, Bordbar, Hagnegat and Gholampour pleaded guilty to conspiring to traffic six women aged between 17 and 22 from the North-West to London between July and October last year for sexual exploitation.
The three women defendants, Jamali, Hagnegat and Bordbar, who wept throughout the hearing, also admitted conspiracy to incite prostitution for gain between the same dates.
Security guards were called to the courtroom after a friend of the defendants started shouting that the four were innocent after they admitted the offences.
The judge ordered the charge to lie on file for Gholampour. A third charge of conspiracy to arrange the prostitution of children will lie on file of all four defendants.
Bill McGivern, prosecuting, said the 14-year-old girl used as bait was an “aggravating factor” of the case, but said there was no evidence she was to be used as a prostitute.
He said the young women were not forced into sexual services, but were “coerced” into offering them after dancing for clients. Hagnegat also offered to prostitute herself during the email correspondence.
Judge Alan Greenwood said the four, who have been in custody since their arrest last year, would be sentenced after 11am.
The court also heard Gholampour admitted possessing extreme pornography, including images of bestiality, during a hearing at Southwark crown court in July.
Speaking after the case, Detective Chief Superintendent Richard Martin said: “This is a sad and harrowing case that involved the main defendants effectively selling the virginity of girls as young as 13 for as much as £150,000.
“It is thanks to diligence of the hotel staff in the Jumeirah Carlton Hotel that this ruthless gang was caught.
“This case highlights the fact that trafficking is not just a crime that involves foreign nationals being brought in the UK. It is something that happens within the UK as well.
“We hope that this result will encourage any other potential victims to come forward and speak with police who may have felt that they couldn't do so before.
“Anyone who feels they may have been a victim in similar circumstances should contact the Metropolitan Police Service or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 if they wish to remain anonymous.”
