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Police outside the 'Model' brotherl in
Dean Street |
JUDGE: BROTHEL CAN STAY OPEN
Court rejects police claim that ‘walk ups’ pose threat to safety
SEX workers in Soho are celebrating after a judge ruled that a brothel claimed to be a beacon for drug dealers and criminals would not be closed by police because it posed no threat to safety on the street.
The two flats at 61 Dean Street, marked by a bright neon “model” sign, were temporarily closed in a high-visibility raid witnessed by the West End Extra at the beginning of the month.
Police said they had been used by prostitutes for the past 16 years.
The decision not to issue a closure order under new police powers comes as a blow to police and their war on vice in Soho, but is being heralded by some parts of the community as a victory for the area’s 350-year-old sex industry.
In candid interviews, sex workers involved told the West End Extra that they deserved to be treated “like human beings”.
One said: “It’s just a transaction. I didn’t get to 15 and say ‘Mummy I want to be a prostitute’.”
The two-day hearing came to an end on Wednesday when Judge Harold Riddle ruled: “I am not satisfied that any person has engaged in anti-social behaviour on this premises.” |
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