Pimp 'enslaved' vulnerable woman and forced her to have sex with 10 men a day

The victim, who was treated "worse than a dog" was snatched from a street in Strangeways, Manchester, when she tried to escape from a life of prostitution

An "enslaved" woman who was forced by a pimp to have sex with 10 men a day was kidnapped from a city street by his girlfriend when she tried to escape, a court has heard.

Jean Marinel Mihai, 29, trafficked a vulnerable woman to the UK from Romania, her home country, so he could profit from forcing her to perform sex acts. He pocketed at least £100,000 while forcing the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, into a life of sex work on the streets of Manchester.

During the 15 months in which she was made to work for Mihai, Manchester Crown Court heard, she was meeting up to ten men per day and "treated worse than a dog". And when the woman tried to seek help from a local charity, she was forcefully kidnapped by Mihai's ex-girlfriend, who had controlled her while working as a sex worker in Romania.

The Manchester Evening News reported Judge Rachel Smith as saying the woman did not know "what she was doing" or "where she was going" when she was trafficked to the UK. She said: "She didn’t know what she was doing, where she was going, save and except that she was being moved to the UK to make money for Mr Mihai as a prostitute.

Judge Smith added that Mihai took "all of her money" and assaulted her on several occasions. She continued: “He took all of her money, he assaulted her on a number of occasions. She was frightened of him because there were occasions of physical violence. Mr Mihai would ring her every day to check up on whether she was working and how much money she was earning.”

The court heard that Florentina Doina Urmuz, 27, the pimp's former girlfriend, was involved in a "pre-planned" kidnapping when the woman received help from a charity. The judge continued: "The kidnapping was pre-planned. You and the two men in the car had travelled from the Midlands. She was frightened of you.

"She was vulnerable, you knew that. You knew she was being kidnapped to be handed over from one exploitative man to another, to be enslaved within prostitution." The judge hit back at claims made by Mihai’s lawyer that the defendant was remorseful, saying: “I regret to say that I find this difficult to accept, given the history since the guilty pleas and the view I formed of Mr Mihai’s evidence.”

Mihai, formerly of High Street, Slough, was sentenced to ten years in prison after he pleaded guilty to requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour and arranging or facilitating the travel of another person with a view to exploitation. Urmuz, formerly of Wilbraham Road, Sheffield, was handed six years behind bars after she pleaded guilty to kidnapping.