A cruel brothel madam could be jailed for life after being found guilty of running a prostitution ring in Dundee.
Mananchaya Wanitthanawet, known as “Nuht”, trafficked two Thai women to the UK and forced them to work seven days a week as prostitutes to pay-off debts totalling £90,000.
Her partner Cameron Wilson, used his bank accounts to conceal and transfer more than £136,000 of prostitution earnings.
The women were lured to the UK on the promise of lucrative massage work but the “dream” they were sold became a nightmare.
In harrowing evidence at the High Court in Dundee, they described how they would see as many as 15 men per day from the morning until as late as midnight.
Various Airbnb properties in Dundee and other cities throughout Scotland were used as brothels, with the women ordered to sexually satisfy men, some whom were described as “sadistic and violent”.
Wanitthanawet, 40, denied any involvement in trafficking the women, controlling them and forcing them into sex work.
However, the jury unanimously found her guilty of human trafficking between 2019 and 2022 at addresses in Dundee, Aberdeen and elsewhere.
Wilson, 30, was previously cleared of trafficking but was found unanimously guilty of living on the earnings of prostitution and money laundering.
His bail order was allowed to continue to get his affairs in order ahead of sentencing next month and he sobbed as he waved goodbye to Wanitthanawet, who was locked up after no motion for bail was made on her behalf by defence solicitor advocate Kris Gilmartin.
“You have been convicted of very serious charges,” judge Lord Scott said.
“They carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. You have no previous convictions.
“Rightly and sensibly, Mr Gilmartin does not seek bail on your behalf.
“I would not have granted you bail given the charges you were found guilty of.”
Wanitthanawet said she came to the UK in mid-2019 illegally, performing “happy ending” massage work – masturbating men to pay off her own debts accrued in Thailand.
She met Wilson as a client in Dundee before moving in with him and using his bank accounts.
Both victims also arrived in 2019 and insisted Wanitthanawet had been the one to arrange visas and flights through a “team” she had instructed.
Almost immediately after arriving in the UK, they were told their debts had increased and they would be working as prostitutes.
They were swiftly put into properties and provided with costumes, underwear, condoms and birth control by “Nuht”, who took photographs of them and advertised them as available for sex on the Vivastreet and Adultwork websites.
The women would rake in hundreds of pounds per day with one of the victims saying for every £1,000 she earned, £500 would go to Wanitthanawet with the other half paying for her debt.
Jurors heard how days off were only approved for when they were on their period and they were only given £30 to spend on food per week.
Wanitthanawet insisted the women were working of their own free will and she played no part in controlling them.
However, the victims said they were intimidated by Wanitthanawet with one of them managing to escape just after the first lockdown in April 2020.
She managed to establish trust with a client and fled to Aberdeen with £300 given to her by the other victim.
Police raided Wanitthanawet and Wilson’s former home on Gardener Street in December 2020 where multiple mobile phones were found along with notebooks in Thai featuring the women’s details, references to ‘Nuht’ and more than £3,800 in cash.
The first victim’s passport details and suitcase were found in the property with one of the phones found to contain messages relating to prostitution which were sent around 30 minutes before the police search.
Wanitthanawet claimed she had no knowledge of the phone and blamed the first victim for leaving the items in her property.
The court was shown Wilson’s bank records with hefty sums transferred into his account after November 2019, when he lost his job as a delivery driver.
He received Universal Credit payments while large sums of cash were transferred into his accounts.
The charges
Wanitthanawet was found guilty of recruiting, transporting and harbouring the women, featuring them in adverts for sexual services and forcing them into prostitution across Scotland between July 1 2019 and July 4 2022 at addresses in Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness, Edinburgh, Newcastle and elsewhere.
Wilson, now working as an analyst, was originally tried over human trafficking but the allegations were withdrawn by prosecutors after the conclusion of the Crown case.
Wanitthanawet was convicted of exercising control over the women as well as aiding and abetting their prostitution.
Both Wilson and Wanitthanawet, of Yeovil, Somerset, were also cleared of two separate charges relating to prostitution and brothels.
Wilson was found guilty of living on the earnings of prostitution at his former home on Gardener Street on December 2 2020 as well as “transferring, concealing and converting” more than £136,000 of criminal cash into bank accounts.
Wanitthanawet also acquired and possessed £3,815 of illegal money. Wilson was cleared of this charge.
Sentence was deferred until next month at the High Court in Edinburgh for reports to be prepared.
The Crown will instigate a proceeds of crime action.
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