A man has been found guilty of human trafficking, the organisation of prostitution and coercive control of his partner following a trial in Galway.
The Galway Circuit Court jury heard that the complainant and the defendant were in a relationship and moved to Galway in 2020, when the man forced the woman to work as an escort.
This was initially done in the house they shared, but later, he drove the complainant to Airbnbs in other areas around Ireland.
It was the State’s case that the defendant took photographs of the woman and posted them on websites. He also pro-actively made bookings, acted as security, drove her to locations and was in control of her finances.
The jury was told that the woman went to a garda station, “broke down” and disclosed the situation she had found herself in. The defendant was then arrested and questioned.
The 26-year-old Eastern European man, who cannot be named to protect the anonymity of the victim, pleaded not guilty to human trafficking, the organisation of prostitution and coercive control in various locations within the State on unknown dates between October 1, 2020, and March 23, 2021, against the woman.
The complainant in the trial came to Ireland at the age of 18 “for a better life,” but in 2020, she found herself out of work due to COVID-19. The woman then went on to work as a “sugar baby” for several months, in which she was a companion for older gentlemen.
The jury heard from a witness who was friends with the injured party. He told Patricia McLaughlin SC, prosecuting, that he met the woman in February 2020 through a common acquaintance. At that time, the woman was working as an escort in Dublin.
The witness told the jury that he had helped her move out of her accommodation and into a new one. The two did engage in sexual intercourse on a few occasions, and they went on to have a “transactional relationship”, the court heard.
The jury heard that the woman had been in a relationship with the defendant then, but he was not living in Ireland. Contact between the woman and the witness ceased after the woman moved away from Ireland in June 2020.
The witness told the jury that he did not hear from the woman again until October 2020, when she sent him a text message with her email address and asked him to contact her via email and not to call or text her phone number. The man did so, and she told him she was back in Ireland and now living in Galway with the defendant. She asked him to help her leave him.
The jury heard that the man agreed to help her, and he drove to Galway from his home in Dublin. The woman told him that the defendant never left her alone and that he was always there with her.
On the day in question, he was due to be out of the house for an hour. The woman instructed the witness not to park outside her house but to park down the road. When the defendant left the house, the woman, along with a suitcase, a backpack and her dog, left the house and got into the man’s car. They then drove to Dublin.
The defendant tracked the woman down to a park in Dublin and persuaded her to return to Galway. The defendant told the woman, who at this stage was pregnant with his child, that if she came back to Galway, she would no longer have to work as an escort and that he would get a job and sell his car to provide for them. In her evidence, the woman said that this did not turn out to be true and she had to continue to work.
In her closing speech to the jury this week, Patricia McLaughlin SC, prosecuting, said this had been a very difficult case and the jury had heard things that were “seedy”. She said the complainant has “told you her story, warts and all”.
Ms McLaughlin said that the complainant was upfront about her work as an escort and a lap dancer. She was also upfront about enjoying the money she earned, but that she found the work physically and emotionally difficult and disabled her advert on Escort Ireland after being on it for three weeks.
Prosecuting counsel told the jury that the complainant and the accused were in a domestic relationship, and there was a pattern of leaving and coming back together. When the complainant got pregnant, the accused – her then partner – did not use any of his skills to get a job, but instead, lived off her as a “cash cow”, the jury was told.
Ms McLaughlin told the jury that the complainant had no control over her money and would work from 11am until midnight. In relation to the accused obtaining or making a “gain” from prostitution, the prosecution said the accused “absolutely” did make a gain as there was no other money going into his bank account, apart from his family on occasion.
Prosecution counsel said that in the very beginning, the complainant thought she would be able to control how much she worked in Galway, like she had previously done in Dublin, but that was not the case. She said the accused was in control of the money, that he took her to other locations around Ireland and decided when she could have a day off.
Delia Flynn SC, defending the accused, said in her closing statement to the jury that it was their function to make a decision on whether the accused is guilty of the charges before the court. She told jurors “emotions cannot influence you and you cannot make a decision on feeling sorry for someone”.
The jury heard that the accused and the complainant met and got on very well together, and they began to live together before the accused moved abroad for work. When COVID-19 restrictions were introduced, the complainant obtained COVID-19 payments.
Ms Flynn said the complainant was “well aware of her rights and is able to conduct her business”. She said: “Without a doubt, what we have seen of her so far is that she is a resourceful woman.”
Defence counsel told the jury that when the couple returned to Galway, the escort business started again. “There is no evidence to suggest that it was done against her will,” defence counsel said. “Other than the bare allegation, there is no evidence, there is not a singular particular.”
Ms Flynn said the complainant had “come into court and made bare-faced allegations without a single piece of evidence. How can that meet the standard of reasonable doubt?”
Ms Flynn said the text messages between the accused and the complainant were very “warm”, and she highlighted one text in which the complainant told the accused that he could spend €10 on a meal.
She put it to the jury: “If the accused was her pimp, would she be telling him how much he can spend on food?”
She also outlined that the complainant gave evidence that the accused would take cash and go to betting offices in Galway. The defence position is this could not have happened as all betting offices in the country were closed due to Covid restrictions.
The prosecution had not proven the facts beyond a reasonable doubt and that the accused should be acquitted of these charges, defence counsel said.