A Bulgarian sex trafficker and restaurant owner has been jailed for smuggling three Bulgarian women into the UK and forcing them to work as prostitutes in Tottenham, in North London, as well as parts of Surrey.  

The Haringey Independent and website getsurrey.co.uk report that Bulgarian national Plamen Hristov, 34, of Reading, was handed a 66-month sentence at Wood Green Crown Court after a jury found him guilty of three counts of controlling prostitution for financial gain and three counts of trafficking for sexual exploitation.

Hristov was said to have forced the victims to work almost every day to help him earn more than 1000 pounds sterling a month.

According to the Haringey Independent: "They each thought they were being brought to the UK to work in a shop but, instead, were forced to work as prostitutes."

The newspaper quotes crown prosecutor Khalid Sheikh as saying: "When they (the women) arrived, they were told they would actually be working as prostitutes and that if they did not, their families in Bulgaria would be harmed. This threat to their families, the manner displayed towards them by the defendant and the threats to expose what they were doing, made the women extremely vulnerable and was enough to keep them under his control for a number of months."

The three women, all Bulgarian, eventually went to the police in March this year. They gave evidence during Hristov’s trial via video link and were cross examined behind a screen to prevent them from feeling intimidated.

According to Detective Constable Toni James, quoted on getsurrey.co.uk: "Hristov controlled these women psychologically, he made threats that he would harm their families if they did not comply, and profited from exploiting them for his own gain in the most humiliating and horrible way. His victims were in no doubt that he had the knowledge and means to carry out his threats and were trapped in a situation from which they were only able to escape with extreme courage and bravery."