Human trafficking concerns after woman is found in suspected brothel

Cabaal

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0702/1214935463784.html

A YOUNG woman arrested during a raid on a suspected brothel in Kilkenny city may be the victim of a human trafficking ring.

Gardaí raided a house just metres from the High Street on Thursday night and arrested the woman, who appeared before a special sitting of Kilkenny District Court on Friday evening.

Joy Imifidon, of Poyntz Lane, Kilkenny, was charged with failing to produce a valid passport or another form of identification.

She was remanded in custody to Mountjoy Prison to appear before Kilkenny District Court.

Det Garda Liam Maher told the court yesterday that in a raid “we found a young lady in the house”.

“We asked her to produce identification, but she said she had none. A search of the house revealed nothing that could identify her. The woman was the sole occupant of the house, and she was arrested and brought to Kilkenny Garda station for questioning on suspicion of running a brothel.

“During the interview she was unable to offer or provide any help as to her identification. She subsequently gave her name as Joy Imifidon, and gave us an address in Nigeria. We have checked out these details and there is no record of this lady entering the country.

“She said that she got a direct flight from Nigeria to Dublin, but there are no such flights as all incoming flights from Nigeria stop in the UK,” said the detective.

“We are worried that she may be a minor and a victim of human trafficking. During the course of her detention she rang two numbers, one of whom she said belonged to her stepmother. They were Nigerian numbers and she spoke in a local language. We made inquiries with Interpol and the Nigerian authorities, but they can be somewhat slow in their response.”

Solicitor Martin O’Carroll told the court he would make contact with the Nigerian embassy about the case.

Judge William Harnett said there was a possibility the woman was in fact a minor and vulnerable.

“This is a young person who is very much at risk. I am not letting her out of custody while she may still be at risk and unless she has some chance of finding a safe place.

“The women’s section in Mountjoy Prison is a lot safer than a lot of other places. It might well be the case that her parents are looking for her in Nigeria.”

Judge Harnett remanded her in custody to appear before Kilkenny District Court next Tuesday.

Nice to know things have gone downhill, not that Kilkenny is the only city with this type of thing going on

KatCookie

you think more people would have replied to this,
it is shocking, but i suppose it goes on everywhere!

smiddyboy

The funniest thing about this story is from the KP as directly to the left under the banner of the story they have placed a 'good looking' model which related to a totally different story but at a glance looks like the model may be involved in the "suspected brothel".

Raze_them_all

It's not really shocking though. Everyone knows there's a few brothels in town. No point acting shcoked when the cops actually raid one, now if they found a donkey in the brothel THEN I'd be shocked

Firetrap

It is shocking but the sad thing is that we've all become desensitised to this sort of thing. I've lost count of the number of times they've busted brothels in Kilkenny. Take away one, and there will be another to replace it.

Raze_them_all

what makes it shocking though???Everyone knows this stuff goes on. Shocking would be something crazy like a cops daughter found working in one.

highgiant1985

Raze_them_all wrote: »

It's not really shocking though. Everyone knows there's a few brothels in town. No point acting shcoked when the cops actually raid one, now if they found a donkey in the brothel THEN I'd be shocked

a donkey :eek:, well whatever gives you you're kicks I guess. I reckon something like that would make front page news on the sun/daily mirror as well! Might boost the tourist trade in the area as well

Itd almost be as good/bad (depending on you're point of view) as the story in the news at the mo "I was drink driving because I'd just caught my Mam having sex with my husband..." oh wait turns out the husband was in jail that night...

orestes

Dammit. I typed Kilkenny donkey brothel into google and this thread is where it sent me :mad:

There goes my plans for tonight

Raze_them_all

orestes wrote: »

Dammit. I typed Kilkenny donkey brothel into google and this thread is where it sent me :mad:

There goes my plans for tonight

you just made me spill water from my nose....brilliant!!!:D

Firetrap

Raze_them_all wrote: »

what makes it shocking though???Everyone knows this stuff goes on. Shocking would be something crazy like a cops daughter found working in one.

My point exactly. Because this sort of thing goes on all the time, we're not shocked. And we should be. I'm as guilty as the next person for being blasé about stories like this. Kilkenny's got a lapdancing club ffs.

But look at the story again. We're talking about a woman who's young enough for the cops to think she might be underage. She's most likely been smuggled into Ireland because they've no record of her arriving. She's probably not seeing an awful lot of the money that's changing hands for her 'services' either.

Raze_them_all

Firetrap wrote: »

My point exactly. Because this sort of thing goes on all the time, we're not shocked. And we should be. I'm as guilty as the next person for being blasé about stories like this. Kilkenny's got a lapdancing club ffs.

But look at the story again. We're talking about a woman who's young enough for the cops to think she might be underage. She's most likely been smuggled into Ireland because they've no record of her arriving. She's probably not seeing an awful lot of the money that's changing hands for her 'services' either.

Sadly once again.... I've to ask what's shocking about this.... I know it seems stupid that I keep asking this but really are you actually shocked about this??? I'd say it's more of "I should be shocked by this"

Firetrap

Oh I'm not shocked at all. My only problem with underage prostitutes in Kilkenny is that there aren't enough of them

Raze_them_all

ha ha ha oh god....you people are hilarious:)