An alleged victim of human trafficking and prostitution has told a trial how she escaped from a Dundee brothel.
The woman – who cannot be named – claimed she fled to Aberdeen with a client after believing she could trust him.
Jurors heard allegations she and another woman had their passports confiscated before being forced into sex work to pay-off five-figure debts.
They were allegedly lured to the UK from Thailand under the promise of massage work which did not exist.
Cameron Wilson, 30, and 40-year-old Mananchaya Wanitthanawet – known as “Nuht” – are on trial at the High Court in Dundee accused of trafficking two Thai nationals into Scotland over a three-year period.
The court previously heard from an alleged victim who said she felt like her “hands were tied” after arriving in the UK to be told she had to had sex with men to pay back £70,000.
Advertised online
A second woman, whose evidence was pre-recorded, said “Nuht” took photographs of her in “sexy” clothing for online adverts promoting sexual services.
She said the advert was used on sites such as Vivastreet and Adultwork, with men paying up to £120 an hour for sex.
The woman, who said she was given the name “Patty”, claimed she earned almost double her £20,000 debt in the four months she engaged in sex work from November 2019.
However, she said for every £1,000 she earned, Wanitthanawet would take half for herself and the other half would service the debt.
When asked by advocate depute Adrian Stalker if she ever thought about going to the police, the woman, speaking through an interpreter, said: “When I came here at first, my English was really not good and I was scared.
“Nuht told me if I go to the police, they can’t help me and they will only send me back to Thailand.”
Escape plan
She claimed her sex work stopped after the initial Covid outbreak in March 2020 and she went to stay with Wanitthanawet and Wilson at their Gardener Street flat.
The court heard she and the first alleged victim were sent to another flat where an escape plan was hatched.
“We had a discussion and I told her I didn’t want to do this work,” the woman continued.
“She (the first woman) recommended that I should escape.
“She said if you had a customer that you can trust who is a good person then you could run away with that client first.
“She gave me £300 for this escape.”
The customer was a Polish national living in Aberdeen and the woman stayed at his flat in the city.
Interpretation confusion
Solicitor advocate Kris Gilmartin, defending Wanitthanawet, questioned the woman over the statement she gave to police in April 2020.
Mr Gilmartin highlighted she had referenced another woman – not Wanitthanawet – as the person who arranged for her travel and contacted her about the work.
The woman said this was incorrect, citing issues with the interpreter translating for her over the phone instead of in person.
Mr Gilmartin suggested money she gave his client was then sent to the complainer’s sister and said she had had no involvement in arranging travel from Thailand, accommodation in Dundee or involvement in sex work.
The woman replied: “I disagree with that.”
However, she had told the police that before travelling to the UK, she was aware she had a “choice” about whether to engage in sexual services or not.
Trial continues
Wilson and Wanitthanawet deny “recruiting, transporting, transferring and harbouring” the first woman to addresses on Gardener Street, Lochee Road and elsewhere in Dundee between July 1 2019 and July 4 2022.
Prosecutors allege she was told to pay off a debt with sex work and her passport and documents were taken from her before being forced into sexual acts with men.
Wilson and Wanitthanawet allegedly took indecent images of her and transported her to various locations in Scotland for prostitution.
A second woman was allegedly subjected to similar control by the pair, both of Yeovil, Somerset, between November 3 2019 and April 3 2020 at addresses in Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness.
Both face allegations of recruiting and transferring females for the purposes of prostitution as well, as keeping and assisting in the management of a brothel on Hospital Street in Dundee, Stafford Street in Aberdeen and an address in Edinburgh.
Wilson allegedly lived knowingly or in part on the earnings of prostitution at the Gardener Street address.
Wanitthanawet faces a separate allegation of exercising control over the complainers to abet or compel their prostitution.
It is alleged that £129,680 in criminal cash was collected and deposited into bank accounts from three Dundee post offices and one in Inverness between December 2019 and December 2020.
A final charge alleges they both acquired and possessed £3,815 of money at the Gardener Street address on December 9 2020.
The trial before judge Lord Scott continues.
For more local court content visit our page or join us on Facebook.
